Another Stranger Me
by The Silent Scream
Summary: Willow always knew that the dark magic within her would be a danger she'd carry to her grave, but she never expected it to start taking over the way it does shortly after the Nightmare Demon has been defeated. Now, it's up to the gang and her to find out how to stop the threat before it destroys her and her loved ones. Willow/OC, est. relationship, rating for violence and cursing.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Yup, as promised, here we go with the new one. This time, I chose a song title quite intentionally ;) I hope you'll enjoy. Feedback is highly appreciated.

Disclaimer: None of the characters used from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer are mine, just borrowing them. Any original ones are from my crazy mind only, so don't blame Joss and please don't sue me ;)

* * *

Another Stranger Me

_I didn't know, I couldn't hear the answer_

_My mind was blank_

_I should've known_

_I hold it back but somehow_

_There is someone else_

_Another stranger me_

_- Blind Guardian, Another Stranger Me_

* * *

"Tell me again why I agreed to come along here?" Willow demanded to know as she carefully stepped around a puddle of quite bad-smelling, brightly green goo on the ground, an expression of disgust on her face; next to her, Buffy shrugged, avoiding the puddle as well, keeping her eyes on the ground so she wouldn't miss any others.

"Because I might need some magic to defeat that thing", she then answered, an agreeing grunt coming from Pat, who was walking along behind them since the tunnel of the cave they currently were in was too narrow to allow all three of them to walk side by side, "and also, you wanted to, you said it's been too long since you've been on patrol with Pat and me."

"Yeah, but if I'd known that the demon in question is bleeding green goo all over the place whenever he gets cut, I wouldn't have come", Willow grumbled, looking at the brightly green, slimy stain on her pants with distaste, "not to mention that it doesn't just bleed, but splatters. Did you know it would do that?"

"No", Buffy replied, a bit too quick and too innocently; when Willow just raised an eyebrow at her, she coughed, then shrugged again, giving her best friend an innocent smile.

"Well, maybe Giles mentioned that the demon might do that", she then admitted, ignoring the dirty look the redhead gave her, "but he wasn't sure. Now we know!"

"Yes, now we know", Willow sighed, shaking her head to herself while behind Buffy and her, Pat smirked to herself, clearly amused by her partner's dismay about the whole situation – after all, she had faced much grosser things since she'd befriended Buffy, so it was quite funny that a little bit of goo would disgust her like that.

"I should have stayed at home", the witch now muttered, to her girlfriend's luck not seeing how those words made her smirk widen, since it surely would have annoyed her, "need of magic or not. Actually I'm wondering why I wanted to come on patrol, it's only been a few days since I defeated that annoying nightmare demon."

"That's not the same as going on a regular patrol", Buffy shrugged, "and there wasn't much physical fighting. Maybe you miss that. Watching us do that, I mean."

"It'd be more fun if there wasn't any goo involved", the redhead grumbled, only to let out a small cry of disgust a second later, caused by the fact that all the talking had distracted her from paying attention where she had going – and thus, she had stepped right into another puddle of the goo she had been complaining about seconds ago, a puddle deep enough that now, there was yet another stain on her pants, along with the stuff covering all of her right shoe.

"Goddammit!" she cried out after the intial shock, shaking her foot and making a few globs of slime fall off and back to the ground, most of it sticking to her shoe though, "that's just gross! Ew!"

"I'll buy you a new pair", Pat threw in from behind, shrugging when Willow looked at her in disbelief.

"What?" she then wanted to know, stepping over the puddle her partner had missed, "it's just goo. Why are you so freaked by that?"

"I don't know", Willow sighed, now keeping her eyes on the ground again so she at least would have one clean shoe left, "it's just awful, so slimy and gross. How far did that demon run anyway? With all that blood on the floor, you must have really gotten it good, Buffy."

"It would seem so", Buffy agreed, looking up ahead into the dark tunnel the demon had vanished into, glad that they had a fire demon along who could provide light by setting her hands on fire, "but who knows how strong that thing is. Maybe—"

Before she had a chance to finish, a loud growl suddenly came from right above them – and moments later, she realized why Willow had stepped into such a deep puddle as the demon dropped down on her from the ceiling, his weight and the impact making her fall down to the ground with a low grunt.

Thanks to her training and her quick reflexes, the demon didn't have a chance to land another hit though; while he still brought back his fist, she already was flipping him, and he briefly sailed through the air, hitting the ground right next to Willow, the witch automatically moving back a step.

Despite that reaction though, she couldn't avoid it when the demon came to his feet again with shocking speed, letting out an angered shriek when he realized that Buffy had moved out of the danger zone easily while he had been down; and then, the blink of an eye later, he was moving again, standing behind the redhead seconds after he had gotten up and grabbing her, wrapping one arm around her throat and pulling her close to himself, her eyes widening when she realized what he was having in mind.

"Let go of her!" she heard Pat snap, the taller woman moving forward, only to stop dead in her tracks when the demon's grip on Willow tightened, his words barely intelligible when he replied, showing that he wasn't used to human speech.

"I will after I got away", he snarled, hot saliva dripping from his lips and landing on the redhead's shoulder, making her grimace in disgust, "I will not let Slayer kill me!"

Before anyone had the chance to reply anything to that, Willow grit her teeth and clenched her fists, her hair all at once moving slightly in the light breeze which was coming up; Buffy and Pat just had a moment to exchange a surprised look, then the demon was screaming in pain, more of his green and gooey blood splattering the floor as the skin that was in contact with the redhead started to melt and tear.

"Stop!" he howled, clearly in pain, letting go of her and stepping back; ignoring his cries for mercy, Willow turned to look at him, and a few seconds later, he practically exploded, green smile and bits and pieces of his body splattering the wall and the ceiling, none of them coming even close to touching the witch or her friends though.

"Jeez", Buffy finally broke the stunned silence which had filled the cave after the demon's unexpected and messy demise, "Will, I never knew…" She trailed off when Willow turned to look at her again, her eyes widening while she moved back a bit without even fully noticing, ending up slightly behind Pat, the black haired woman just staring as well, clearly as unsettled as the Slayer.

"You never knew what?" Willow wanted to know, with that tone in her voice Buffy had heard years ago, the darkness in her eyes seeming to flicker and twist and turn as she looked at her best friend, "that I can…" All at once, the darkness faded from her eyes, and she staggered; within moments, Pat had rushed past Buffy and to her girlfriend's side, grabbing and steadying her just in time to keep her from falling.

"Okay", she mumbled once she had made sure the witch would stay on her feet, looking at Buffy with concern clearly showing through her gaze, "that's enough action for tonight. We better get you home."

"What happened?" Willow wanted to know in reply, frowning when the demon and the Slayer exchanged worried looks in reply, Buffy sounding as concerned as her partner was looking when she answered her question with one of her own. "You mean you don't remember?"

"No", the witch mumbled, moving one hand up to rub at her forehead, asking herself where that headache was coming from now, "what happened? Why are you both looking at me like that?"

"What do you remember?" Pat wanted to know in reply, unnerving her partner slightly, since she couldn't stand it to be asked more questions instead of given answers whenever she wanted to know something, some of that showing through her voice when she replied. "I remember that demon grabbing me, and then the next thing I know is that you're running at me to catch me because, for some reason you won't tell me, but keep asking me stuff instead, I was about to fall down. Thanks for that, but _what happened_?"

"Well", Buffy finally started giving her the answer she had been waiting for, after exchanging another worried look with Pat, "you kinda… blew that demon up. And you had that black eyes thing going on again…"

"What?" Willow nearly squeaked, her eyes going wide as she stared at the blonde, not even noticing how Pat tightened her grip on her slightly in an effort to give her some reassurance, "but… I didn't… I mean, I didn't want to…"

"We know", the demon was the one to answer that, "and if you can't even remember it… That's bad news."

"That's an understatement", Willow mumbled, looking at her in dismay, "now I go evil without noticing?"

"You didn't exactly go evil", Buffy corrected her, her concern only growing at the freaked out state of her best friend, "you just blew up that demon, that was gross, but efficient and I would have killed it anyway. But maybe we should talk to Giles tomorrow…"

"Definitely", Pat agreed at once, "and now, we better get you home, as I said, after that little… episode, you should get some rest."

"Yes", Willow nodded immediately, to the relief of her partner, "and tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I'll call Giles, maybe he'll know what to do…"

"He'll figure something out", Buffy reassured her, placing a comforting hand on her arm, "don't worry. And, hey, maybe it was just a one time thing, caused by the stress that demon was causing you."

"I hope so, but I doubt it", Willow muttered, her gaze darkening slightly, "we hardly ever get off that easy…"

"We'll see", Pat gave back, pulling her a bit closer for another moment and making her smile slightly again, then, after another look at the splattered remains of the demon, the group started walking back to the cave's entrance, their thoughts circling around what had happened and what it might mean for their immediate future.


	2. Chapter 2

Almost an hour later, the couple was back at their apartment; even though during the walk there, Pat had reassured Willow countless times that she hadn't done anything evil and that she only had defended herself, the redhead still was close to freaking out, now pacing up and down in the living room while her partner sat on the couch, watching her and feeling slightly helpless, not having an idea how to help her handle this.

"Listen", she finally tried a different approach, "maybe Buffy was right and it just was a one time thing. You have been quite freaked out by that demon and his gross goo, so maybe when he grabbed you, that caused your reaction…"

"But what if not?" Willow wanted to know, finally stopping her pacing and looking at her girlfriend, running both hands through her hair in exasperation, "what if it happens again? It just… I don't know, it kinda took over, that darkness I loaded up with during my rampage, so what if it happens again and I do something much worse?"

"Like what?" Pat asked in reply, once more irritating the redhead and making her shrug helplessly, her voice even more exasperated when she replied. "I don't know, hurting Buffy, or hurting you… it wouldn't be the first time I'd use my magic against you."

"But you weren't evil back then", the demon pointed out in reply, "just kinda, um, pregnant with a demon baby. Or something. Anyway… it won't help to freak out now, let's wait until we spoke to Giles, alright?"

"I'll try", Willow sighed out, to the demon's relief moving to the couch and sitting down next to her at last, "and, Sweetie, I was not pregnant with that thing, remember, I puked it out, I didn't give birth to it."

"Which was good, cause it would have grossed me out forever and ever", Pat smirked, chuckling at the look the redhead gave her in reply, her voice slightly indignant when she replied. "Yeah, right. As if you ever could be grossed forever and ever by my… well, you know. Lady parts."

"Yeah, not likely to happen", Pat agreed after a moment, smiling when the witch snuggled up to her, then putting one arm around her shoulders and rubbing her upper arm soothingly, her voice down to a low murmur when she spoke on. "Maybe it really was just a one time thing, then there's no reason to be worried. And even if it wasn't… We'll figure something out. We always do."

"I know", Willow agreed after a moment, making her partner smile again, "but you understand why I'm worried, right? I mean, this darkness has been a part of me ever since I sucked all those books dry in the Magic Box, but… something like that never happened before. Even when I was all Evil Darkness Willow, I still knew what I was doing… Or when Amy was controlling us, there was a tiny part of the real me left, but this time…"

"Of course I understand", Pat reassured her, "I'd freak too if my demon side suddenly would start to randomly take over. But it'll be fine, I promise."

"I hope so", Willow sighed, a hearty yawn escaping her afterwards as her tiredness took over despite her concerns; smirking, Pat suggested that they should get some rest now, not surprised when the redhead nodded at once.

"I'm drained", she then muttered, coming to her feet and prompting her partner to do the same, "whatever I did to that demon was really tiring."

"It was also really impressive", the taller woman gave back as they made their way into the bedroom together, "I think I've never seen you use such strong magic before. Except for maybe that time we were on holiday in Maine and you had to close that nasty portal there."

"That was quite draining, too", Willow remembered, grimacing at she thought of the situation they had been stuck in back then, "actually, it was worse than whatever it was I did today. I still don't want a repeat performance."

"Not if you don't remember afterwards, nope", the demon agreed as she changed into her pyjama, the redhead doing the same; she yawned again while she laid down and pulled the covers over herself, her girlfriend joining her moments later and making her smile by immediately pulling her into a tender embrace and moving one hand to caress her hair, clearly eager to give her some more comfort after the unsettling occurrence in the cave.

Smiling slightly, Willow craned her neck to kiss her partner, pulling back just in time so she could let out another yawn; chuckling, Pat told her to sleep well, making her nod before she closed her eyes, drifting off into dreamland not even a minute later, the demon following her a short time afterwards.

* * *

In the next morning, Willow barely took the time to have breakfast, merely gulping down a cup of coffee before she got the phone to call Giles; while she did so, Pat just sat there and watched her, clutching her coffee cup with one hand and her cigarette with the other, not capable of proper speech yet.

As she waited for Giles to take her call, Willow fidgeted on her seat nervously, asking herself what was taking the Brit so long; and just when she was growing impatient and wanted to hang up to try again later, a click sounded through the line, followed by the Watcher's voice as he took the call with a short "Hello?"

"Giles, good morning, it's me", Willow greeted him, relieved that he had answered the phone at last, "um… this is kinda urgent, can Pat and I come over in an hour or so?"

"Of course, I have no plans for today, well, none which include leaving the house", the Brit replied, sounding slightly surprised and a bit alarmed, the second emotion probably caused by the urgency he had heard in the witch's voice, "but what is going on?"

"Something bad happened at patrol yesterday", the redhead let him know in reply, then quickly told him what exactly had happened; when she had finished, he remained quiet for a while, slight concern in his voice when he finally replied, just before she could ask him if he was still there.

"This does sound quite serious. Has it happened again since yesterday?" he wanted to know, a bit relieved when Willow declined; he told her that he'd look into it and that they should be at his house in an hour, as the redhead had suggested, prompting her to thank him enthusiastically and making him smile at his end of the line.

"There is nothing to thank me for", he reassured her, "I will see you later, then."

"Thanks anyway", Willow insisted, "and yes, see you later." With those words, she ended the call, then looked at her partner while she put her phone down on the table, smiling slightly when she informed the demon of the call's result.

"You'll be awake enough to go there in an hour, right?" she teasingly wanted to know afterwards, feeling much better now that she knew that already in this moment, Giles was looking for a way to help her; her amusement only grew when Pat just let out a grunt in reply, and she giggled slightly as she sat down next to her girlfriend and reached up with one hand to tousle her hair, receiving yet another grunt as an answer.

"You're cute when you're grumpy", she told the black haired woman afterwards, then finally succeeded in making her smile by leaning over and planting a hearty smack on her cheek; she smiled back at her, then got up from her seat again to help herself to another cup of coffee, even humming softly to herself now as she poured the by now lukewarm liquid into her cup, then added milk and sugar, grimacing after the first sip though.

"It's cold now, thanks to the milk", she explained at the taller woman's questioning look; to her surprise, Pat let out another grunt – before she took the cup from her and held it with one hand, said hand flaming up moments later, the unexpected fire prompting the witch to let out a small squeal.

"Jeez, don't do that", she then scolded, "you startled me."

In response, the demon just gave her a slight smirk, holding the cup for another half minute before the fire finally went out again and she gave it back, the sight of the now steaming hot coffee delighting the witch despite how much the sudden use of fire had startled her; she thanked her partner, then took a careful sip of the coffee, finding herself able to enjoy the taste now that she knew Giles would help her.

"I wonder if he'll already have found anything by the time we'll get there", she mused out loud while Pat finished her cigarette and put it out in the ashtray close to her, making her shrug slightly – before she showed that finally, she could communicate again, even though she still sounded a bit gruff when she replied. "Possibly, but if not, he'll probably make us read all those books with the stupid tiny print again."

"Poor you", Willow showed sympathy in reply, well aware of why exactly the black haired woman didn't like the tiny print, smiling slightly when Pat shrugged after a moment, her next words causing the smile to widen considerably.

"Yeah, woe is me", the demon sighed out, "but well, the things I do for love…"

"Aw", the witch cooed in reply, "you're so sweet. And I love you, too."

The two smiled at each other, then Willow leaned in for a quick kiss; afterwards, they both finished their coffee, the demon smoking yet another cigarette, before they made their way to the bathroom for the morning hygiene routines, getting ready to leave and to head for Giles' house just in time to arrive there at the time they had agreed on.


	3. Chapter 3

"Unfortunately, I found several possible causes for what you described", Giles told them an hour later, after they had sat down on the couch in his living room and he had offered them tea, an offer they both had declined, "and it is highly possible that I did not find them all yet."

"Well, what did you find?" Pat wanted to know, while Willow reached over and grasped her hand, suddenly needing comfort again as she hadn't liked to hear that all – secretly, she had been hoping that the Watcher already would have a complete solution ready when they'd come to his home, even though she had known how unrealistic this was.

"It could be caused by some outer influence", the Brit started explaining in reply, for once not taking off his glasses as he spoke, "similar to the time when Amy was controlling both of you, with magic or some sort of talisman."

"But it's not like it was with Amy", Willow shook her head, "back then, I still was aware of what was going on. When that thing happened in that cave yesterday night, I blacked out completely, I had no idea what had happened until Buffy and Pat told me."

"Which leads to the other two theories", Giles replied at once, as if he had expected something like that. "It could also be some sort of possession", he went on, both women frowning at the thought, "or a parasite, like the one you had… um, inside yourself a while ago. You weren't hit by any demon slime lately, were you?"

"No", the redhead replied, shuddering at the memory and briefly asking herself why this incident was what everyone thought of first when she told them of her predicament, "no demon goo, and I don't think there was any other chance that I could have gotten a parasite inside me. And, well, about the possession, wouldn't it do more than just make me black out so I kill a demon?"

"Most likely", Giles agreed, "it would probably try to wreck much more havoc. There is one more possibility I found though…" He fell silent, and a few seconds later, Pat rolled her good eye, sounding as impatient as she was looking when she replied. "So, what are you waiting for? Tell!"

"I was thinking of a good way to phrase it, so it wouldn't upset your partner", the Watcher replied, sounding mildly indignant, "but, well, Willow, not even a week ago, your connection to the magic was severed by that nightmare demon, and maybe, after restoring it, the dark magic is now much stronger in your system…"

"Dammit", Willow muttered in reply, surprising both her partner and Giles, since usually, she left the swearing to the demon right next to her, "how much longer am I gonna feel repercussions for this?"

"Is there anything we can do in case this turns out to be true?" Pat wanted to know, giving the witch's hand another calming squeeze; to her dismay, Giles just shrugged, finally taking off his glasses and beginning to clean them while he replied. "Nothing which would lead to a quick and easy solution, I'm afraid. I suggest that, if this is really what happened, you work with the witches from the coven again, Willow."

"You want to send me to England again?" the redhead nearly squeaked in reply, the demon giving him a startled look as well, their reaction prompting him to shrug helplessly while he put his glasses back on.

"If the restoration of your magic really is to blame, it might be the best course of action", he then explained, "I know you don't like the thought much, your reaction made this quite clear, but surely you'll agree that something has to be done?"

"Let's figure out what the reason is first before we start talking of Willow going to England", Pat suggested, making the Watcher nod – before he got up from his seat and smiled at the couple, clearly eager to calm them down a bit after how much his suggestion had upset them.

"As you surely remember, during the situation with the… parasite, I made a potion to find out if a spell has been put on you", he started, making them both nod, "and I prepared another batch after your call, so I suggest we start there."

"Fine with me", Willow shrugged, "even though now you just made me remember how awful that stuff tasted, but I guess that can't be helped."

"I added some honey again so it will be sweeter", Giles let her know in reply while he went to get the potion; he returned a short time later with a glass filled with light green liquid, handing it to her, the redhead briefly grimacing before she lifted the glass to her lips, squeezing her eyes shut as she gulped the potion down as fast as she could.

"Eurgh", she let out as soon as the last sip had been swallowed, "the honey makes it a bit better, but it's still awful. What exactly goes into that potion?"

"It's better if you don't know", the Watcher replied, smiling innocently when Willow gave him a brief, wide-eyed look; then, she shrugged it off and told herself that it didn't matter, shifting on the couch nervously as she waited for the potion to take effect, remembering that, if a spell had been put on her to cause that strange blackout, a light green glow would surround her.

"How long until it should take effect, if it is a spell?" she wanted to know, Giles telling her in reply that it would be about five minutes; feeling nervous again, the redhead shifted on her seat once more, asking herself what they would do if it was neither a spell, nor possession or some sort of parasite – the thought of going to England again for God knew how long, leaving her friends and especially her girlfriend behind, didn't appeal to her at all.

Next to her, Pat looked quite uncomfortable as well, checking her watch every other minute; it seemed to take forever until those five minutes finally had passed, and when nothing happened, they both felt disappointed, exchanging a worried glance while Giles let out a small sigh.

"Apparently it is not a spell", he then stated what was quite obvious to both of them, "I'll look up ways to find out if it's a possession or another parasite, but if it's not…"

"If it's not, we'll figure something out that doesn't involve me going to England, alright?" the witch almost pleaded in reply, making the Watcher let out another sigh before he gave her a serious look, causing her to realize that he was about to go into lecture mode, a suspicion he proved to be correct when he started talking a moment later.

"Willow, I understand that the thought doesn't seem all too thrilling to you right now, but if it really is the dark magic taking over, you need to get it under control again, and the coven is the best place for doing so", he let her know, making her sigh slightly, still not sounding all too happy when she replied. "I know, I know, you're right and everything, but… Can't one of them come here or something?"

"We'll think about that after we ruled out possession", Giles decided after thinking about this for a moment, to Willow's relief not shooting her idea down immediately; he gave her another calming smile, then got up and moved to the bookshelf, ignoring the groan Pat let out when he took several thick and obviously old volumes from it.

"Maybe we'll find something in one of these books", he let the couple know, handing each of them one of said books, another groan coming from the demon when she opened it and saw the tiny print, the noise once more ignored by the Watcher, "and if not, we will go on looking in some books from the Magic Box. I know for a fact that it is possible to find out if a person is possessed, we just need to find the information."

"You make that sound so easy and not as if finding that info will take us hours we'll spend sitting over old smelly books with stupid tiny print", Pat grumbled, giving the book a poisonous look as if it was to blame; not sure what to reply to this, Giles just shrugged, making the demon direct another dismayed look at him – before she declared that she couldn't handle that stupid book without having a cigarette first and got up from her seat, leaving for her smoke while Giles sat down again and started going through his book, the witch picking up hers a few moments later, even though the thought of going to England again for god knew how long still weighing heavily on her mind didn't make concentrating on the task at hand exactly easy.

* * *

Outside on Giles' front porch, Pat was having similar thoughts as she smoked her cigarette, letting her gaze wander idly over the quiet street, pondering how it would be if Willow really would have to go to England – they hadn't been separated often since they had started being together, and she was well aware of the fact that it might take the witch weeks, if not even months, to regain the control over the dark magic she had lost thanks to the nightmare demon.

"Bitch, I hope you burn in Hell now", the black haired woman muttered to herself as she thought of said demon and about all the trouble she had caused for them; shaking her head to herself, she took another long drag of the cigarette, only to nearly choke on the smoke when an awfully loud crashing sound suddenly came from inside Giles' house, followed by an outcry which only could come from the Watcher.

"Oh fuck", Pat said to no one in particular, since no one else but her was there to hear; she threw her cigarette to the ground and rushed to the front door, practically bursting back inside, only to freeze dead in her tracks when she saw the Brit up at the ceiling, held there by what looked like ropes of bright red energy, Willow standing beneath him with her back to the demon, one hand raised, the glowing red light rising from her fingertips and pointing her out as the source of the magic.

"Willow!" the taller woman snapped, getting out of her reverie and moving over to her partner, not very surprised when the witch turned her head and she saw the darkness in her eyes, even though she wasn't sure how to handle this now – after all, the redhead had gone back to normal the last time this had happened without anyone of them helping in some way, but only now Pat realized how bad it might be if this wouldn't happen now or during the next time something like this would occur.

"Snap out of it", she said the first thing which came to her mind, ignoring how stupid it made her feel and that it probably wouldn't help much, "and let Giles down, he clearly doesn't like it up there."

"Who do you think you are, to tell me what I should do", Willow snarled in reply, with a coldness and contempt in her voice that took the taller woman aback; telling herself that this wasn't really her partner talking to her, but the darkness inside her, Pat steeled herself against the hurt that wanted to well up at being addressed by her loved one that way, managing to sound surprisingly casual when she replied, her response making Giles cough in embarrassment despite his current predicament. "Well, we sleep together on a more or less regular basis, so I figure I should have a vote whenever you pin our friends to the ceiling for no reason."

"You sleep with the good one who's holding me back", the redhead gave back at once, crossing her arms over her chest, the red energy still flowing from her fingertips though and keeping Giles where he was, "but I won't let her hold me back much longer now…"

"Well, that answers the question if it's possession", Pat muttered to herself, then focused on Willow again, giving her best to ignore how unsettling she looked, with the darkness still swirling and dancing in her eyes.

"There's nothing you can do", the witch snarled in reply, glaring at the demon with such intensity that she nearly took a step back, "sooner or later, I'll take over, and then you'll all… die…" The darkness started to flicker and to waver, the redhead's natural green eye colour flashing up beneath it; and then, just a few seconds later, the blackness vanished completely, the red energy stopped flowing and Giles crashed down to the floor while the witch's knees gave in beneath her and she nearly fell, Pat preventing this in the last possible second by catching her and keeping her from sharing the Watcher's fate.

"Whoa, there, there", she tried to calm down the redhead when she felt her clutch at her back the way a drowning person might clutch the life-saving piece of wood which had drifted by, "it's okay, it's over again…"

"For now", Willow brought in response, her voice trembling along with her whole body, "what did I do? What happened now?"

"I got pinned to the ceiling", Giles was the one to answer her question, coming to his feet again, looking glad that he had landed on the floor and not on the table, "the next time this evil side does this, please try to make her pin me above the couch so I'll land soft…"

"Oh God", Willow replied, giving him a shocked look, "I'm so sorry… Are you okay?"

"Fine", the Brit reassured her, "and judging from what you… or, better said, from what that dark magic said while I was up there, it's not your fault at all."

"Yeah", Pat agreed, still not daring to let go of her partner, afraid she might end up falling down after all since she still seemed to be pretty shaken up, "she talked about how you were 'the good one' holding her back and how you wouldn't hold her back much longer. Or it, I'm not really sure if dark magic has a gender. Come on, you should sit down." With those words, she led the witch the few steps to the couch and made her do just that there, taking the seat next to her; after a moment, Giles sat down as well, giving them both a concerned look, the same worry in his voice when he spoke up again. "Well, now we know for sure that it is neither possession, nor some sort of parasite… in the biological sense of the word. At least this saves us time and makes the research unnecessary…"

"So what now?" Pat wanted to know, frowning slightly as the Watcher's suggestion about sending the redhead to England once more came back up in her mind, not surprised when he cleared his throat, obviously intending to bring just that topic up once more, only to be stopped by Willow herself speaking up, sounding defiant now that she had had some time to calm down a bit. "I'm still not happy with the thought of going back to England… as I said, can't we ask them to send someone here?"

"I'm not sure if the strength of one person will be enough", Giles replied, "but, if you're so against going there, this aversion might make dealing with the situation much more difficult there and it most likely would be easier to do it here… I'll call them and ask for their opinion, alright?"

"Alright, thanks", Willow agreed, the Brit giving her a calming smile in response before he checked his watch, making sure he actually could call there now without waking anyone up as he calculated the time difference, coming to the decision that calling now would be just fine, excusing himself to do just that as he took hold of his phone and vanished into the adjoining kitchen.

"I hope they can send someone", the witch stated in a low voice as soon as Giles was gone, "I really don't wanna go there again and leave you all behind…"

"I don't want you to go either", Pat let her know at once, grasping her hand and giving it a tender squeeze, "but if they decide that sending one person won't be enough, there maybe won't be much of a choice…"

"I know", Willow sighed, snuggling closer to her partner and smiling slightly when the taller woman responded by putting one arm around her shoulders, "but it might take so long, the last time I was there, it was for weeks and I didn't lose control so completely back then, I was still me…"

"Let's wait until Giles finished the call", Pat suggested after a moment of thinking about this, not liking the possibility that her girlfriend might have to go to England for months, "maybe we are worrying for nothing and it'll be enough to send someone here."

"I hope so", Willow gave back, momentarily dismayed that she couldn't hear what Giles was saying on the phone in the next room; clearly eager to calm her down, Pat answered by gently tilting her head up and kissing her, her voice down to a low murmur when she spoke up again, sending shivers up and down the redhead's spine despite the unpleasant situation.

"Even if you'll have to go there again, you know I'll wait here for you, right?" she wanted to know, making Willow nod at once, "no matter how long it'll take…"

"I know", the witch smiled, touched by her partner's words, craning her neck for another short kiss before she continued, "but I'd prefer it if there'd be no need to wait for me…"

"Me too", the demon agreed at once, "so let's hope Giles tells us what we want to hear."

Nodding, Willow demanded yet another kiss, a wish the taller woman fulfilled most gladly; after pulling apart again, the couple just sat there in comfortable silence, waiting for Giles to finish the call and return to them to tell them about the results.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Huh, quite the long update again, but there wasn't really a good moment to stop in the second paragraph… oh well. I'm totally psyched cause I'm going to a festival tomorrow where I'll see Slayer and IRON MAIDEN! Up the Irons!

* * *

"You'll be glad to hear that the coven sees no problem with sending someone here to help with the current situation", Giles let Willow and Pat know another fifteen minutes later, to the couple's obvious relief, "they are making the arrangements right now. The witch they'll choose should arrive here a few days from now."

"Thank goodness", Willow said with a sigh of relief, "so one person will be enough to help me control this again? When I had to go there after… Warren, I worked with several of them…"

"One person's power won't be enough, no", Giles replied, making them both frown as they tried to figure out why they would send someone then, "but Natasha, the witch I spoke to and currently the most powerful witch of the coven, reassured me that they would find a way to solve this. Perhaps they will infuse the one they'll send with their magic, as they did for me when they sent me to face you, or some other, similar solution."

"Am I glad to hear that", the witch smiled, the happiness in her voice making her partner smile as well, "now let's hope nothing dramatic will happen until that witch arrives here…"

"Well, so far, it seems as if that dark magic can't keep the control up for long", Pat pointed out in reply, "it always had to retreat after a few minutes. If it stays that way—"

"If it stays that way, there is enough harm it can do within a few minutes", Willow interrupted her, making Giles nod in agreement, "flailing Warren, for example, just took a second. Or creating a fireball I sent to kill Jonathan and Andrew."

"Okay, point taken", Pat ruefully had to agree, as well, "but, hey, so far, all it did to us was pin Giles to the ceiling. And it could have attacked me just as easily, but we just talked. Maybe something is holding it back."

"Very possible", the Watcher threw in, making both the witch and the demon look at him, "even though it seems to you as if this dark side is taking control fully and you can't remember anything when it does so, it can't block you out all the way. I wouldn't be surprised if you're holding it back even when it takes over."

"I hope I am", Willow gave back, "but if I do, I don't know how I'm doing it, because I'm totally blacked out when it takes over. And we can't know if I'll keep up that kind of control or if it'll fade once the magic gets stronger or something…"

"Hopefully, we won't have to find out", Giles replied, "Natasha was quite confident that the situation can be resolved quickly. She believes that, since you already had control over this dark magic once, it should be easy to regain it again."

"Let's hope she is right", Pat commented, "and I take it we are done here then for now?"

"Yes", Giles let her know, "shall I contact Buffy and inform her, or will you do this?"

"I'll do it", Willow gave back, "she'll be glad to hear that we already on the way to solving this."

"Most likely", the Watcher agreed, smiling at her, "I'll keep you up to date about the person the coven will send, Natasha told me she'll call me when he or she is leaving England."

"It could be a he?" Pat wanted to know, raising an eyebrow, "I thought covens are a female-only thing."

"They used to be", the Brit let her know, " but I was informed that since about a year, at least our coven, for lack of a better word, started accepting warlocks, as well."

"Equal opportunities are a wonderful thing", the demon commented dryly, "but if we're done here now then, I suggest that we go home, Sweetie."

Nodding, Willow got up from her seat, prompting the taller woman to do the same; they both thanked Giles for his help, making him reassure them that it hadn't been a problem before he told them to take care, making both of them nod in reply.

"I'll call you", he then added, earning yet another nod; then, Willow suddenly stepped forward and, to the elder man's evident surprise, hugged him briefly, making him smile again with what she said next. "Thanks for not being mad at me… about the ceiling thing, you know."

"It wasn't your fault", he reassured her once more, knowing she had to hear this, "and there was no harm done."

"And am I glad about that", Willow sighed, making him smile at her again; she returned the smile, then finally moved back to her partner's side, wishing the Watcher a good day before they both said their goodbyes and left his house, heading back to their own home.

* * *

"…yeah, they'll send someone", Willow confirmed to her best friend half an hour later, having made herself comfortable on the living room couch before she had called the blonde, her partner right next to her and leaning as close to the phone as she could so she could hear what Buffy was saying, "so I won't need to go to England. And Giles said that apparently, I still have some control over this dark magic even when it takes over and I can't remember, because I didn't really hurt Giles, I just pinned him to the ceiling. Or, well, that dark magic did, not me."

"Pinned him to the ceiling?" Buffy repeated, to the astonishment of both Willow and Pat sounding a tad amused, "poor Giles. Did he at least land on the sofa when he fell down again?"

"No", Willow grimaced, "on the floor. Luckily not on the table or something."

"Yeah, luckily", Buffy agreed, still sounding more amused than she should, since after all, it still was quite a dire situation, "and it's lucky that dark magic side person or whatever it is didn't do any more damage. Let's hope it stays that way until the witch from the coven arrives and helps you regain control."

"Or the warlock", Willow informed her, "Giles said that this coven is accepting both men and women now."

"Yay for equality I guess", Buffy gave back, making Pat smirk slightly while Willow held back a giggle, knowing it would be hard to explain what was so funny about this, "so, let's hope your dark side passenger stays kinda nice until the witch or warlock from the coven arrives."

"Agreed", the redhead nodded, "Giles said it would be a few days, they need to figure out how to get enough power into that one person first. Not to mention the travel."

"Yeah, makes sense", the Slayer agreed, "so until then, I suggest no more patrolling for you. Maybe we should try to keep you out of stressful situation all together, is it more likely that this dark side takes over when you're stressed?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so", the witch gave back after thinking about this for a moment, "I wasn't stressed when it took over and pinned Giles to the ceiling, just a bit upset about the idea of going to England again…"

"Well, that idea has been thrown out because they'll send someone here, so let's hope there won't be anything else upsetting you anytime soon", Buffy smiled on her end of the line, "maybe then, this dark side won't take over again then."

"I hope so", Willow agreed, "well, just wanted to update you on the situation, we'll let you know if anything else happens, alright?"

"Alright", Buffy replied, "and take care, okay? Keep me updated about the witch or warlock."

"Sure", the witch reassured her, then said goodbye and ended the call; she put the phone back on the table, then looked at her partner and asked if she had missed anything of the call, not surprised when Pat shook her head.

"Heard it all", she then stated, "good Buffy's so fine with all of this. Even though it is a bit odd that she nearly laughed when you told her about what happened to Giles."

"Yeah, I thought so too", the witch agreed, giggling slightly, "he wouldn't be amused if he'd hear about this, so we better don't tell him."

"Agreed", Pat smirked, then pulled her girlfriend closer to herself, her voice getting lower again as she moved one hand to caress her back, her words and her tone making the witch smile. "So, you still feeling upset? I can calm you down… I know just how."

"I imagine you do", Willow smiled, "and I suppose calming me down would involve the loss of clothes?"

"Not necessarily, I can work around that", the demon smirked, making the redhead giggle again – before she leaned in for a kiss, all worries about the dark magic taking over vanishing from her mind when the kiss deepened and she felt her partner's hands slide beneath her blouse, caressing her back tenderly, a low moan escaping her at the warm and tender touch.

Somehow, Pat managed to pull her closer and to move one hand to open the buttons of her blouse without breaking the kiss; when she had finished unbuttoning, she started to slide the fabric down her partner's arms, only to suddenly feel the redhead push her backwards with surprising force, the unexpected movement causing the kiss to end and making the demon look at the witch again, a startled noise coming from her when her gaze once more met darkness.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa", she brought out as she scrambled backwards frantically on the couch, away from the redhead, "what's this now?"

"What?" Willow smiled, a cold and slightly cruel smile that was quite unsettling, "you don't wanna enjoy that with me? Just with the good one?"

"Yeah, kinda", Pat gave back, quickly getting up from the couch now that the first shock was fading, "no offense, but evil's not my type, and it'd kinda be like cheating, you know? So I'd be grateful if you could return my girl."

"Evil's not your type?" the witch pouted, sitting up and stretching, giving the taller woman quite a good look at the exposed parts of her upper body, "but you've been so evil yourself before you met this pesky good one. Don't you miss it?"

"No", the black haired woman replied at once, eying Willow with concern as she wondered how much longer it would take until the darkness would have to recede again – and if her partner really could hold it back from harming anyone, not liking the thought of what might happen otherwise.

"You know, this is really rude", she continued, deciding that trying to win time until Willow would regain control would be her best course of action, "did you have to interrupt at that special moment? An hour later wouldn't have done?"

"No", the witch shrugged, getting up from the sofa as well and making the demon take a step back, "and if you don't wanna do the naughty, well… I'm getting bored now."

With those words, she raised one hand and made a casual flicking gesture with her fingers; and moments later, the ground vanished beneath the demon's feet as she was hit by an invisible, yet tremendous force and thrown backwards, the wall stopping her quite harshly and causing a low grunt to escape her as she slumped down to the ground.

"A bit better, but still bored", Willow mused as she walked closer to the taller woman, stopping right in front of her. "You know what I ask myself?" she went on, flicking her fingers again and smiling coldly when Pat was jerked up into the air and pressed against the wall, her feet dangling several inches above the carpet, the unseen force of the magic the witch was using keeping her immobile.

"How long I can toss you around and play with you until you decide to fight back", Willow smiled, "since you really don't want to harm that good one, huh? Not even if your life depended on it?"

"Not even then", Pat pressed out, straining to move a muscle, with no success though; the witch smiled at her and took another step closer, raising her hand once more – before the darkness in her eyes started to flicker again, a low groan coming from her moments later as she clenched her fists, her voice full of anger and hatred when she cried out. "No! I will not be pushed back again! I'm going to—"

She got cut off abruptly, her eyes going wide as her body went rigid; for a few seconds, she stood as still as a statue, then the darkness vanished from her gaze within the blink of an eye and she collapsed, ending up on the ground, momentarily making Pat glad that they had a carpet in the living room – before she fell as well and landed next to her girlfriend, the magic which had held her against the wall gone.

Shaking her head to clear it, the demon sat up and moved a bit closer to Willow, tentatively touching her shoulder, ready to jump back the moment she'd show any signs of still being controlled by the dark magic; to her relief though, the redhead's eyes were back to normal when she looked up at her, filled with confusion and worry.

"It happened again, didn't it?" she wanted to know, sitting up as well and running both hands through her hair, "it took over again…"

"Yup, and it totally ruined the mood", Pat gave back, trying to sound light-hearted so her partner wouldn't be upset, "it should be ashamed, really."

"Did it hurt you?" Willow wanted to know instead of responding to her girlfriend's try to lighten the mood a bit, "why are we over here at the wall?"

"Pinned me against it", the demon informed her, deciding to keep the part about how she had been thrown against it secret for now, not wanting to upset the redhead even further, "seems that dark magic has a thing for that. But don't worry, I'm fine."

"So, apparently, it not only comes out when I'm upset or stressed out, but also when I have certain… other feelings", Willow sighed, "that's just great. What if all kind of strong emotions make it come out? I can't walk around without feeling anything!"

"Maybe valerian?" Pat suggested, shrugging at the disbelieving look she received in reply. "What?" she then added, moving closer to her and grasping her hand, "it would help, wouldn't it? I can only help with not making you have those… certain other feelings, as you put it, but about the rest, well… not much we can do there."

"Well, I could stay here until that witch arrives", Willow mumbled in reply, "but even then, I can't be sure I won't have any strong feelings… Maybe your idea wasn't that bad after all."

"Hey, I'm over two hundred and forty years old", Pat pointed out in reply, "I must have good ideas every now and then, age makes wise, you know."

To her relief, her attempt to cheer the witch up worked this time, since she smiled slightly, then moved closer for an embrace, the demon gladly pulling her into one, both of them ignoring the fact that they still were sitting on the floor.

"Well", Pat spoke up after just holding her partner for a while and trying to give her some comfort and reassurance that everything would be alright, "now that we know that getting kinky is not an option, we should find another way to keep ourselves busy, preferably one which won't upset you or anything like that."

"Yes", Willow agreed, sighing to herself since she really had been looking forward to "getting kinky", as her partner had put it, "I think I'll just study… Nothing all too exciting about that. Can you go to the pharmacy down the block and get some valerian?"

"Sure", the taller woman shrugged, "but do you think it's a good idea if I leave you alone? What if it comes out then?"

"In that case, no one will be around it can hurt", Willow shrugged, clearly not as worried about this as Pat was, "and, before you say it could make me leave and go God knows where, I guess it can also do that when it takes over while one of you is around."

"Was that supposed to calm me down?" Pat wanted to know, frowning at her partner, "because it didn't. Not at all."

"Sorry", the redhead replied, slightly sheepish, "but I'm right, am I not? Luckily, it seems that the dark magic thing still can't control you for long, so even if it takes over while you're gone, it probably retreat again before any harm can be done."

"Let's hope so", Pat sighed after thinking about this for a moment and having to admit that her girlfriend was making a good point, "but just so you know, I'll run all the way to the pharmacy and back."

"Alright", Willow smiled, touched by the concern her loved one showed for her; she leaned in for a quick kiss, then told her to hurry, making her nod before she came to her feet at last and quickly moved into the small anteroom, putting on her shoes and jacket there, leaving the apartment and being on her way to the pharmacy not even a minute later.


	5. Chapter 5

During the rest of the day, the dark magic didn't take control again, to the relief of both Willow and Pat; neither of them were sure if this had been caused by the valerian the witch had taken after the demon had brought it back to the apartment, or by the fact that the day had been spent quite calm on the couch, with studying, reading and watching TV, but both of them figured that it didn't really matter as long as they'd manage to keep it that way.

"Maybe I should keep that up until the witch or warlock arrives", Willow let her girlfriend know as they got ready for bed several hours after the last time the dark magic had taken over, "just to make sure nothing else unpleasant will happen."

"Sounds like a plan", Pat nodded while changing into her sleepwear, "if that dark magic only takes over when you're experiencing strong emotions, the best thing you can do is avoid them, I guess."

Nodding as well, the redhead got into the bed and pulled the covers over herself; a moment later, the demon did the same, pulling her into a tender embrace and holding her close, causing her to let out a small, content sigh.

"Maybe we should stay in bed all day and cuddle", she suggested after she had made herself as comfortable as possible, her head coming to a rest on the taller woman's shoulder, "then I surely won't have any strong emotions."

"Unless you get those certain, special feelings", Pat teased in reply, chuckling when Willow responded by whacking her chest lightly; shaking her head, the redhead gave her another scolding look, then yawned heartily, the excitement of the day suddenly taking its toll on her and making her realize how exhausted she was feeling.

"No special feelings now", she mumbled, her tiredness only growing when her partner moved one hand to caress her hair tenderly, "just feeling tired."

"I noticed", the taller woman dryly gave back, earning yet another not so happy look, "we better get some sleep now then, who knows, maybe exhaustion will bring that dark magic out as well. We better don't take any chances."

"Good point", Willow agreed, then let out a hearty yawn; smiling slightly, Pat went on with caressing her hair, doing so until her slow and calm breaths showed that she had fallen asleep, only stopping the movement once she could be sure that the redhead had gone all the way to dreamland and wouldn't wake up again all too soon, following her into deep slumber just a few minutes later.

* * *

When the demon woke up again, she wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but knew it couldn't have been for very long since it was still dark outside; for a moment, she didn't know why she had woken up, then she realized that she laid alone in the large bed, and her heart started beating up to her throat as she sat up and looked around, thankful for her rather good night vision, even though some of that gratitude vanished when she couldn't spot her partner anywhere.

"Fuck!" she cursed at the lack of the smaller woman, practically jumping out of bed; keeping herself from rushing out of the bedroom, she made herself look around it to make sure the witch really wasn't there; since Willow was nowhere to be seen in the not all too big room, the demon then moved on to the adjoining bathroom, not really surprised when she couldn't find her there either.

"Search the rest of the place, call Buffy if you can't find her", she told herself, leaving the bathroom and heading for the living room; the witch wasn't there either, and neither in the small anteroom between the apartment door and the living room, but at least, her shoes and coat still were there.

Hoping that the dark magic wouldn't have left just wearing Willow's sleepwear, the demon moved on to the kitchen; and the moment she stepped into said room, her heart nearly skipped a beat again as she spotted the motionless figure lying on the ground, right next to the dining table, blood glistening on the table's wooden edge and on the tiled ground, making it quite obvious what had knocked the redhead out.

"Oh shit", Pat brought out, not even noticing how much her voice trembled as she just stood and stared for a few moments; then, she tore herself out of her reverie and quickly switched on the lights before she rushed to Willow's side, kneeling down next to her, her breath getting caught in her throat when she spotted the wound the blood had been coming from, above the witch's temple, almost hidden by her long hair.

"Willow?" the taller woman said, grasping her loved one by the shoulder and holding back the urge to shake her slightly, "can you hear me? Come on, wake up…"

For a few moments, nothing happened, and Pat already considered getting the magic supplies from the cupboard in the living room so she could do the healing spell; then, just when the demon wanted to come to her feet again and do just that, Willow let out a small groan, her eyelids fluttering, prompting the black haired woman to stay where she was as she said her name again, with a bit more urgency in her voice this time.

"Come on", Pat continued talking, as if her voice might serve as some sort of rope that would pull her out of the darkness of unconsciousness, "wake up… Please?"

As if the final word had been a cue, the redhead let out another groan, then opened her eyes and blinked into the light, dazed – before her eyes widened and she tried to sit up, the demon keeping her from doing so by quickly placing both hands on her shoulders, gently, but firmly pushing her back down.

"Don't", she said when she finally managed to capture and hold her partner's gaze, "it's okay, whatever happened is over, and you hit your head, you shouldn't get up yet. Do you feel dizzy?"

"Yes", Willow mumbled, finally slumping down again fully to a lying position, flat on her back, "what happened? Why am I in the kitchen?"

"Don't ask me", Pat sighed out, grasping her hand and holding it tenderly, "I woke up and you were gone, so I went to look for you and found you here. Judging from the blood on the edge of our table, I figure you fell and hit your head."

"I guess I didn't sleepwalk", the witch mumbled miserably, giving her partner an unhappy look; not sure what to reply to this, the demon just squeezed her hand, then shrugged, only to nearly flinch when the redhead suddenly spoke on, in an unexpected emotional outburst. "So, I can't get upset, sad or horny" – at this, Pat raised an eyebrow, not used to hearing her lover use this certain word, "and apparently, I also can't go to sleep, because then it'll take over. How am I supposed to live until this coven person arrives?"

"I'm not sure", Pat finally managed to say something, since the redhead had to pause for a breath, "but we'll ask Giles tomorrow, maybe he'll—"

"I'm sick of this!" Willow interrupted her, the desperation in her voice making the taller woman's heart clench up, "I'm sick of paying for this! Haven't I paid enough? Going to the coven and learning how to control this wasn't exactly easy, you know, and neither were the nightmares I kept having about Warren and about Tara, and then Warren came back to make it even worse, and…"

"Hush", the demon silenced her at last, before she could start to hyperventilate, "I know it wasn't easy, I know, Sweetie, but getting yourself worked up like this… It might bring it back…"

"I know", the redhead sniffled, startling her girlfriend with how close to tears she was all of a sudden, "but I just want this to stop… I wish I had never loaded up on that dark magic to begin with! So much could have been avoided… All of this, and all the pain I gave my friends…"

"They forgave you", Pat reminded her of this small, but not unimportant fact, "and if you hadn't loaded up on that dark magic back then, we probably would have ended as snacks of those mist monsters, back there in Maine. Or I'd still be a statue, going crazier and crazier."

"You're right", the witch had to agree after a moment, "but still… I just have enough, you know? I don't want to go through any more of this, just because of a mistake I made years ago…"

Her voice broke at the last few words, and she lost the fight against her tears, even though she had been battling them so bravely; while she bit back a sob, they started rolling down her cheeks, and immediately, the taller woman pulled her into a comforting embrace, making soothing noises while she held her close, rubbing her back gently.

"There, there", she muttered after just holding the witch close for a while, trying to give her the comfort she clearly needed so much, "it'll be okay, I promise. Once this person from the coven arrives, we'll figure something out, and until then, we'll just need to be careful."

To her relief, the redhead nodded after a moment, keeping her face buried in the black haired woman's shoulder though, not ready to pull back yet; and thus, Pat kept holding her and kept rubbing her back, until the flow of tears slowly ceased and Willow calmed down enough to look up at her partner, nodding when the demon told her in a soft and kind tone that they should check her head now.

Making sure that the smaller woman wouldn't fall, Pat helped her to her feet and led her to the dining table, making her sit down there before she took a seat as well, grasping her hand and looking at her with worry, the same emotion showing through her voice when she spoke up, her obvious concern touching the witch and even making her smile slightly.

"Do you still feel dizzy? Or are you seeing two of me?" the demon wanted to know, holding up one hand before Willow had a chance to answer and asking one more question. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"No, no, even though I think I'd like that, and three", the redhead answered all questions at once, momentarily stunning her partner into silence as she worked out the reply; then, she smiled slightly, sounding just a tad rueful when she replied. "Okay, next time I fear you have a concussion, I'll give you time to answer. You're not feeling nauseous either, are you?"

"No", Willow reassured her, "I'm fine… Well mostly, I got a bit of a headache, but I guess that's normal…"

"If it's still there tomorrow, we'll do the healing spell", Pat decided in reply, "but for now, we should get a band-aid on that and then, go back to bed…"

"What if it takes over again then?" the witch gave back, growing worried again, "it did so before, what if it happens again and I do something worse this time than just passing out on the kitchen floor?"

"Well, you have to sleep, don't you?" the demon shrugged, not liking how helpless the redhead's words had made her feel, "you can't stay awake until this witch or warlock or whatever arrives."

"You're right", Willow sighed after thinking about this for a moment, "let's just hope then it won't happen again…"

Nodding, the taller woman got up from her chair, prompting the witch to do the same; together, they made their way into the bathroom where Pat cleaned the wound, then applied a band-aid, reassuring the witch once more that things would be fine afterwards, making her nod without much conviction, her heart still filled with worry as she moved to the bed with her partner and laid down to sleep, barely daring to hope that at least for the rest of the night, the dark magic wouldn't take over again.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: So, the update's kinda late again, but it's still Thursday here, so... ;) I went to see World War Z with my bro and it was fun. Not a great movie, but not boring, either. Oh well. Enjoy ;)

* * *

In the next morning, Pat was the first one to wake up, something which hardly ever happened and briefly made her worry that the dark magic had taken control once again and had made Willow do God knew what; then, she rolled over and found the redhead right next to her, still slumbering soundly, looking just as peaceful as she always did when she was asleep, to the demon's great relief.

Frowning to herself, she remembered last night's events, the brief moment of panic when she hadn't been able to find her partner and the even bigger scare when she had found her knocked out cold; then, she shrugged those feelings off, telling herself that at least this was over and that she shouldn't worry about it anymore while she got out of bed as carefully as possible, not wanting to wake Willow up after the rather exciting night they had had.

Holding back a yawn for the same reason, she almost automatically grabbed the eyepatch from the nightstand and put it on while she trotted into the kitchen, moving to the coffee machine there without as much as a glance at anything else in the room; and after the machine had been set up and the coffee slowly started to run through, she lit up a cigarette and leaned against the kitchen counter, now letting the yawn out while she ran one hand through her tousled hair.

Momentarily, she wondered if she should wake Willow up once the coffee would be done, then decided against it, telling herself that it'd be better to let the witch sleep in as long as she wanted to; she threw an impatient look at the coffee machine, taking another drag of her cigarette afterwards, only to jump and nearly drop it when the phone started to ring in the living room, the unexpected sound startling her.

"This better be important", she then grumbled to herself as she hurried into the living room, eager to get the call before the noise would wake Willow up; while she snatched up the phone and spoke a not all too friendly greeting into it, she had to find out though that she had been to slow, since the bedroom door opened and the witch joined her, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Good morning", Giles's voice came through the line, "I hope I didn't wake you up?"

"Not me, but Willow", Pat let him know while the redhead moved over to her and stood close enough to her so she could be pulled into a one-armed embrace, smiling when the taller woman did just that, "so this better be important, what's up?"

"Natasha called", the Watcher explained in reply while Willow leaned closer to the receiver so she could hear him as well, "they finished their preparations and are sending someone off today, it was faster than I'd expected. Apparently, they worked all night to infuse an amulet with their white magic, she said that this has to be resolved fast, before the dark magic gains too much control."

"Makes sense", Pat had to agree, "and this really better work out fast, there was another… incident last night. Nothing too dramatic, but the faster we get over this, the better."

"Agreed", the Brit replied at once, "Natasha already gave me all the information about the witch's flight, so I know when she'll arrive at the airport. I'll pick her up from there, take her to my home and introduce her to the rest of you."

"And when we should we be at your place, then?" the demon wanted to know, grimacing slightly at Giles' reply, having to admit that he was making a good point though. "Tomorrow afternoon, I don't want to overwhelm the poor girl, especially not after the long travel", the Watcher explained, "is two o'clock fine for you?"

Not sure if Willow had heard, Pat gave her a questioning look, making her nod, the demon giving Giles her agreement moments later, the smile that was on his face now clearly audible when he let her know in response that he'd inform the rest of the gang before he said goodbye and ended the call.

"Thank Goodness", Willow sighed out the moment Pat had put the phone back on the table, "I'm glad they managed to send someone so fast."

"Yeah, me too", the demon nodded, "they must have really been up all night for the magic infusion or whatever, such stuff isn't exactly easy, right?"

"I guess not", the redhead shrugged, "I've never done it before, but Giles told me it happened quite fast when they gave their magic to him so he could fight me back then when I was… well, evil. Not sure how much longer it would take to put it into an amulet…"

"Let's hope it works the way it is supposed to, whatever way that is", Pat stated after thinking about this for a few moments, putting both arms around the witch now and pulling her closer, "as long as that dark magic is still kinda weak and has to retreat after a while."

"Yeah, let's hope so", Willow agreed, then sniffed audibly, prompting the demon to raise an eyebrow, the strange behaviour explained by the smaller woman when she noticed the look on her partner's face.

"I think I smell coffee", she let the black haired woman know, "did you actually wake up so much earlier than me that you had time to prepare it before Giles called?"

"Yup, I did", Pat told her, sounding so absurdly proud that it made the witch laugh slightly, "and now that you mention it, coffee should be done by now, so let's go and have some, shall we?"

"Good plan", Willow smiled, pulling back from the embrace and making her way into the kitchen with her partner, "you didn't happen to prepare any food as well, did you?"

"Unfortunately, Giles called before I could get to that", the taller woman gave back, "but I guess it's for the better, you know I'm kind of a lethal chef…"

"Aw, that's an exaggeration", Willow giggled while she made her way to the fridge and opened it, hoping to find something suitable for breakfast there, "it's not that bad. I've eaten stuff you've made for a while now and I'm still ali—" She got cut off when all at once, blinding pain shot through her eyes; involuntarily, she let out a cry, her grip on the fridge's door momentarily tightening before she slumped down to her knees, clutching at her head with both hands, dimly hearing how Pat rushed to her side, calling out her name.

"Willow!" she tried again when the only reaction was a weak groan, "what's wrong? What's happening?"

In response, the witch just groaned again through grit teeth, sweat now forming on her brow, slowly rolling down her cheeks; and then, her head suddenly snapped back into her neck, her eyes practically flying open and going wide as darkness filled them, the good eye of her partner widening as well at the sight.

"Oh no", Pat brought out, instinctively moving back a few inches, "not again, not so fast after the last time…!"

"Not happy to see me?" Willow wanted to know, a sardonic little smile curling her lips as she looked at the demon and came to her feet again, prompting Pat to do the same, "I take it you didn't miss me then?"

"Not at all", the taller woman replied, hoping with all her heart that the dark magic wouldn't be able to hold control for long after taking over again so briefly after the last try, "so why don't you go back to where you came from?"

"No", the dark magic gave back at once, not really surprising the demon, "on the contrary, I plan to stay a bit longer this time."

"Too bad it's not up to you to decide that", Pat smirked, "how often have you tried to take over since your first try? You could never stay longer than a few minutes."

"I was weak", the witch replied, "but my strength is growing, as you'll soon notice… And you'll help to make it grow even faster."

And with those words, before Pat could even try to react, her partner was moving, her hand landing on the demon's chest the blink of an eye later, a smile curling her lips when all at once, a pain so complete and overwhelming that she couldn't even scream filled every single fibre of the taller woman's being.

"It won't hurt for long, I promise", the dark magic said, words the black haired woman barely understood as the blinding pain as still racing through her, "and I won't kill you, no worries there… I'll just borrow a bit of your… talents."

Her fingers tightened, taking firm hold of the shirt Pat had been wearing to bed; her smirk widened slightly when all the demon could do was let out a pained gasp, sweat rolling down her cheeks and dripping to the floor. Just when she thought that she couldn't take this any longer, that she'd simply faint from the pain, the witch finally let go of her, and the pain stopped as fast as it had begun; groaning, the demon slumped forward, ending up on all fours, not seeing anymore how Willow came to her feet and, after one last contemptuous look at her, left without another word, the sound of the apartment door slamming shut behind her being the last thing Pat heard before she finally lost the battle and the darkness of unconsciousness claimed her.


	7. Chapter 7

During her time as the Slayer, Buffy had learned many things, and one of them was to trust her gut; and thus, when she later had time to think of it, she had to admit to herself that she hadn't really been surprised about what had happened. Already when the doorbell rang, she had the feeling that something was terribly wrong, and hadn't even tried to shake it off – after all, those feelings usually turned out to be right, and so, it wasn't as much as a shock as it might have been for anyone else when she opened the door and found herself looking at a Pat who seemingly had aged fifteen years since they had seen each other the last time.

"What happened?" she asked at once, not even bothering with shocked outcries about the demon's appearance, even though it was unsettling to see her like this – the lines around her eyes looked much deeper than they should have, her skin was so pale it seemed to be a small miracle she didn't faint on the spot, and when Buffy took a second, closer look, she noticed to her astonishment that several strands of the taller woman's hair had gone grey.

"The dark magic", the demon gave back, the tremble in her voice prompting the blonde to move closer to her and put one arm around her waist, helping her into the house and to the living room where she made her sit down on the couch, concerned by how much those few steps already seemed to tire Pat out, not even able to imagine how hard it must have been for her to get to the house from the apartment she shared with the witch.

"It took over again", the black haired woman went on after she had regained enough breath, "but I didn't make much of it, it always had to give up control again after a few minutes…"

"But not this time, right", Buffy half asked, half stated, "it did something to you so it could stay in control longer."

"Yes", the demon mumbled, finding her cigarettes with a trembling hand and lighting one of them up, the Slayer not stopping her for once, even though usually, she didn't want her to smoke in the house, "it took some… I don't know, some of my power, my demon abilities, not all of it, it's still there, not like when that bitch with her amulet took it completely, but… I can't flame up, and I can't demon out…"

"I'm sure it's just kinda… drained", Buffy tried to calm her down, seeing how much that upset her, "just rest a few hours and it'll be fine, I'm sure… What about Willow?"

"I don't know", Pat replied, all at once sounding so distraught that the Slayer feared she would burst into tears any moment, "it knocked me out when she did… whatever she did, and when I came back around she was gone…"

"I'll call Giles", Buffy decided as an answer, already rising from her seat to do just that – when she remembered the call she had received from the Watcher earlier that day, informing her that he wouldn't be around this afternoon, but would be on his way to the airport in L.A. to pick up the witch sent by the coven.

"Or maybe not", she sighed out, slumping back down on her chair, "he's not at home, he's getting the witch."

"Oh, right", the demon realized, taking a drag of her cigarette afterwards, "so what do we do?"

"How about you die?" an all too familiar, but still strange voice answered her, making her jump; on the couch, Pat flinched as well, her good eye going wide when she looked towards the doorway from where the voice had come and found herself staring at her partner, a cold, sardonic smile curling the redhead's lips, an equally cold glint in her eyes.

"Remember how I kicked your butt years ago?" the witch went on, strolling into the living room calmly while Buffy came to her feet, clenching her fists, "unfortunately we were interrupted back then, but I don't think that will happen this time. Your British buddy isn't around now, is he?"

"Back off, whatever the hell you are, and leave Willow alone", Buffy bravely replied, giving her best to hide how dismayed she felt about the whole situation – she didn't want to end up in another fist fight with Willow, like they had years ago after she had loaded up on the dark magic, but she knew that she wouldn't have much of a choice, should the witch really attack her.

"No", the redhead replied, unimpressed by the Slayer's words, "this body is mine now, after years of just being there in the back, locked away in the dark… Do you have any idea what this is like? Watching how she used me, used my power, to do her good little deeds? It was driving me crazy."

"That's too bad for you", the blonde replied, not sounding all too sympathetic, "but that doesn't give you a free pass to take over my best friend's body. So back off."

In response, the witch let out a snarl that was so unlike her that it was jarring to both Buffy and Pat – and then she moved with shocking speed, her fist slamming into the Slayer's stomach seconds later, the blow having enough force to send her flying until the wall at the other side of the room stopped her quite harshly.

"Stop it!" the demon yelled, forgetting momentarily how drained and tired she was feeling after the dark magic had used her demonic powers to get stronger; she launched herself from the sofa and tried to tackle the witch, a move which surely would have worked, had she been in better shape, but thanks to how much her strength had been drained, she ended up being slower than usual, the redhead having more than enough time to react.

Snarling again, she did just that, gritting her teeth as she turned and reached out with both hands; she grabbed the demon at the shoulders, then turned, using the taller woman's momentum and a burst of unexpected strength to send her flying as well, a loud crash echoing through the house when she hit the bookshelf head first and most of the books fell out, adding insult to the injury by landing on her.

"You know what?" the witch pondered while she slowly walked over to the groaning demon, ignoring Buffy as she tried to get to her feet, "maybe if I kill you now, it'll break her enough to let me take over completely. I can feel her, in the back of my mind, she's struggling there, and it's… itching."

"Willow", Buffy brought out behind her, taking the dark magic's words as hint that maybe, the redhead could hear her somewhere in there, "if you can hear me, stop her… Take back control, you can do it!"

"Shut up there", the witch replied, unimpressed by her words, "she can take back control as little as you can breathe under water."

"Don't listen to her", Buffy went on in response, ignoring the words of the redhead, "you can do this, I know you can… If you don't, she'll kill us both! Is that what you want?"

"Buffy's right", Pat now threw in as well, having managed to turn around and to sit up, blinking furiously as blood seeped from a gash hidden beneath her long hair and into her good eye, "you can do this Sweetie, you're stronger than this magic, do it, push it back…!"

"Shut up, both of you!" the witch shrieked in reply, loud enough to make their ears ring – and then she took two fast steps closer to the demon, grabbed her by the throat and easily lifted her off her feet, slamming her against the wall when she tried to struggle and get out of the grip, her face reddening when her flow of air was cut off by the steel-like hold around her throat.

"Stop!" Buffy nearly shouted, finally managing to come to her feet again and hurrying over to where the witch was standing, seemingly effortlessly holding the black haired woman up so high that her feet were dangling several inches above the carpet, "put her down, you'll kill her…!"

In response, the witch didn't even bother to look at her, but merely made a short movement with her free hand at her – and seconds later, an unseen bolt of energy hit her and sent her flying again, until she once more crashed into the wall and slumped down to the ground, groaning softly as she fought to stay conscious.

"Stop", Pat pressed out between grit teeth, fully aware of the fact that she'd just be choked to death if the witch didn't let go of her, finding herself unable to harm her, "Willow, make her stop, I know you can do it…"

For a few dreadful moments, the grip on her throat tightened even further, cutting her flow of air off completely – and then, green flashed up in the darkness that had taken over the redhead's eyes, and her grip loosened, then vanished as she stumbled a few steps back, groaning and doubling over while Pat landed on the floor again, coughing violently as she fought to get air into her lungs again.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Willow stagger, and before even realizing what she had to do, she was moving, her body acting on pure instinct as she came to her feet and shot forward, catching the witch just before she could collapse, and probably saving her from a nasty fall and yet another just as nasty head wound.

"Willow?" she carefully said, not sure what she would see once the redhead would open her eyes; still she didn't let go of her, but lowered herself on the ground with her partner still in a tight grip, holding her close as she waited for her to open her eyes at last, hoping with all her heart that she'd see green then and not that unsettling darkness.

"Is she okay?" Buffy demanded to know, finally coming to her feet and moving over to the couple slowly, making the demon shrug helplessly, her voice filled with concern when she briefly looked at the blonde and replied. "No idea, I think she's out—" Before she could add the final word to complete the sentence, Willow let out a low groan, interrupting her; and then, she opened her eyes, both the Slayer and the demon immensely relieved to see that they had gone back to their natural green colour.

"What happened?" the redhead groaned, trying to sit up in her partner's embrace, "why are we in Buffy's home…? Did it take over again…?"

"Yes", Pat confirmed, "but that doesn't matter now, are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Drained", Willow mumbled in reply, briefly closing her eyes before she forced them open again and finally managed to focus on her girlfriend properly, "I don't think it'll…" Her eyes went wide, and she let out a gasp, momentarily making both Buffy and Pat wonder if she was in pain or if the dark magic was about to take over again; before they could ask her what was wrong though, she clarified her actions by reaching up and tenderly touching the taller woman's hair, her voice trembling when she spoke on. "Your hair… did I do this?"

"No", Pat replied at once, "not you, the magic… And it doesn't matter, I doubt it'll be permanent."

"You know what?" Buffy threw in before Willow could say anything to that, the witch still looking rather troubled about what had happened to her loved one, "I don't care if Giles doesn't want to overwhelm that girl, this has to end before even more damage is done."

"There was more damage?" the redhead nearly squeaked as an answer, asking herself if whatever that dark magic had done to Pat hadn't been enough yet; to her dismay, neither her girlfriend, nor her best friend bothered to give a proper explanation, both of them just shrugging in perfect unison before the demon looked at the blonde and nodded her agreement.

"Maybe we should go to his home and wait there", she then suggested, "if he wants to keep us from overwhelming the girl, as he put it, he might not answer the phone once he's back from the airport."

"Good idea", Buffy agreed, then gave her a concerned glance, her next question making Willow's eyes widen again. "Are you up to walking there, or should we call a cab?"

"Why wouldn't she be up to walking there?" the witch demanded to know before Pat had a chance to answer, "what did… it do to you? Tell me now!"

"I'm not sure", the demon sighed out in reply after a moment, figuring that her girlfriend would find out sooner or later anyway and that she might just as well tell her, "it kinda… tapped into my demonic powers I guess, I felt all drained and I still can't flame up or demon out, I can feel that, but as I said, I'm sure that's not permanent… I'm feeling better already, honest."

"I still feel bad", Willow mumbled, giving her partner an unhappy look, "it might not be permanent now, but what if it happens again? Sooner or later, you might have no powers left for the dark magic to tap into…"

"Before it'll have another chance to do that, we'll have spoken to Giles and the witch from the coven and it'll be fine", Pat reassured her, then smirked, her next words such an obvious attempt to cheer the witch up that it made Buffy grin to herself slightly. "And, anyway, see the positive side, now that I got a bit of grey hair, I'll look older than you again, so people won't notice I don't really age."

"I'm glad you can find a good thing about this mess", Willow dryly replied, making it clear that the attempt hadn't worked out that well, "but don't you think people will notice that you suddenly got grey hair over night?"

"No", Pat shrugged at once, making the redhead raise an eyebrow at her, "it's been a while since I've been at college to pick you up or anything, they'll just think it appeared since then. And you know how good people here are at the whole selective memory thing, they'll convince themselves I've always had it or something."

"We don't even know if it's permanent yet", Buffy pointed out before the witch could reply to that, "maybe it'll just go back to black the next time you demon out."

"Yup, we'll see", the demon nodded, "but now, we should get to Giles, and yes, I do feel up to walking there."

"Let's go then", Buffy agreed at once, making Willow nod as well after a moment; together, the three of them left the house just a few minutes later and started their walk to the Watcher's house, Willow finding herself unable to move her gaze from the grey streaks in her partner's hair and the deepened lines in her face, hoping with all her heart that it really wouldn't be permanent as Buffy had suggested, not sure how she would handle the guilt she'd feel if this wouldn't turn out to be true.


	8. Chapter 8

"Buffy", Giles greeted after opening his front door to the frantic ringing, surprising the group with the fact that he was already back from the airport, "I thought we agreed we'd meet… tomorrow…"

He trailed off when his gaze fell on Pat, the demon shuffling her feet after a few moments when he just stood and stared at her, sounding just the tiniest bit defiant when she spoke up at last, her words making the Slayer smile again and tearing the Brit out of his stupor. "Yeah, I know, my hair's gone grey, should I take a picture so you can study it in peace?"

"No need for a picture", Giles primly replied at once, making Willow smile slightly as well, "and I imagine that this third colour in your hair is the reason why you are here?"

"Kind of", the demon shrugged, "but won't you let us in first? We shouldn't discuss that on the front porch, as lovely as it is."

"Of course", the Brit gave back at once, stepping aside to let the three women enter; when they did so, the first thing all of them noticed was the woman who had been sitting on the couch and now got up to look at them, smiling the moment her gaze fell on Willow.

"You must be the reason why I'm here", she said before Giles had a chance to introduce her, moving forward and closer to the witch with one hand outstretched, "I'm Melanie. You can call me Mel if you like. You're Willow, right? And you must be Buffy. I thought you'd be taller."

"I get that a lot", the Slayer gave back while Willow shook the witch's hand, a bit dumbfounded by the warm greeting and asking herself why they had sent someone who obviously hadn't been part of the coven when she had been with them; then, she shrugged it off, reminding herself of the fact that it had been several years since then and that surely, the coven had gained new members in the meantime.

"I have no idea about who you are, though", Mel now added, looking up at the much taller Pat and making both Buffy and Willow realize how short she was, even smaller than the Slayer; smirking, the demon shrugged, clearly not offended, even though the coven should be aware of her existence as well by now. "I'm Pat, Willow's girlfriend. Oh, and just so you know, I'm a demon, so don't freak out in case I start burning, alright?"

"Ooh, you're the demon then, I've heard that Willow's with a demon, but I didn't know your name or anything", Mel nearly gushed, making them all smile slightly, "to be honest, I expected something much more… well, demon-y, I was wondering how that's working out…"

"Oh, she does have a demonic form", Willow reassured her, "but it's not gross or anything, it's kinda –"

"Don't say that it's cute now", Pat interrupted her, making Mel giggle slightly while Buffy and Giles just smirked; frowning, the redhead looked up at her partner, crossing her arms over her chest in mock annoyance before she replied. "Well, it's not nice to interrupt people, and I was gonna say that it's kinda furry. But, well, it is kinda cute, too, so…"

Groaning, Pat rolled her eye, making the witch and the Slayer giggle heartily while Mel took a step closer to her and placed one hand on her arm.

"I'm sure it's very intimidating to your foes", she tried to make it better, earning a "Hell yeah it is" from the demon while Willow smiled again, then reassured the other witch that it was fine and that they just were enjoying some friendly banter, finding herself quite charmed by the blonde witch's personality and liking her already.

"Well, now that we all know who is who", Giles finally brought their focus back to the topic at hand, "would you mind telling me what happened exactly?"

"Not hard to explain", Pat shrugged, moving over to the couch and flopping down on it, her girlfriend taking the seat next to her a moment later while Buffy, Giles and Mel made themselves comfortable as well, "the dark magic thing took over again and decided it needed to juice up a bit, so it tapped into me or something. Felt quite bad and drained me quite much, but it's getting better already."

As if to underline her own words, and to prove that she had meant what she had said, Pat the held up one hand and made a tiny flame appear on her index finger; Mel let out a gasp, staring at the sight with big, fascinated eyes, the smirk vanishing from the demon's face again though when the flame flickered and died just a few seconds later.

"Okay, not back to full strength yet", she then concluded, "but I'm recharging or whatever, an hour ago, I couldn't even do that. Case in point, we really need to stop something to stop that magic from taking over, or it'll come out and maybe do that again."

"I can help with that, that's why I'm here", Mel proudly replied, making them all look at her; smiling brightly, she got up and moved to where she had put down a rather big travel bag next to the couch, then knelt down next to it and started rummaging through it, quickly finding what she had been looking for.

"Here", she went on as she came to her feet again and presented the object of her desire to Willow, "this will keep the dark magic from taking over. You'll still need to work with me to get it under control again though, like you did back then when you were with the coven for the first time."

With those words, she handed the thin golden necklace to the redhead; curious, Willow accepted it, then examined the perfectly round and smooth white stone that dangled from it, a bright dash of red in the centre.

"Wow, it's beautiful", she breathed after admiring it for a few moments, "and this will keep the dark magic at bay…? Are you sure?"

"Yes", Mel replied at once, "we infused it with some very powerful white magic. But, as I said, you'll still need to work with me to get it under control again, you can't rely on the necklace the whole time from now on."

"Yes, of course", Willow agreed immediately, "I know… I'm just glad this will keep it at bay."

"Me too", Pat smirked, holding up her partner's hair when she gave her a glance so she could put the necklace on, "that way, it won't come out again to leech from me."

"Also, it won't hurt anyone else anymore", the redhead agreed, finally managing to close the clasp of the necklace, nodding when Mel told her that she should wear it beneath her shirt so it laid right on her skin above her heart, momentarily surprised about how warm the stone felt as she slid it beneath her clothing.

"Thank you", she added after the stone had vanished beneath her shirt, "I'm so glad you came here and that the coven came up with this solution…"

"We're here to help", Mel smiled as an answer, "and I'm glad all of you gave me such a warm welcome. But now that you wear the necklace, I'd like to get some rest, if that's okay…"

"Oh, sure", the witch agreed at once, making Buffy and Pat nod as well while Giles already came to his feet and told her he'd show her to the guestroom; thanking him, Mel got up from her seat and picked up her bag, then stopped to look at Willow once more, a small smile curling her lips as she let the redhead know that she'd call her in the next day so they could meet up for their first session of meditation.

"Of course, just call me when you feel rested enough", Willow agreed at once, making the other witch nod as well; then, Giles took her to the guestroom while the other three stayed where they were, the witch smiling blissfully to herself, hardly able to believe that a solution for her troubles had been found and brought to her so quickly.

* * *

"I wonder if this necklace really will work", Pat said almost two hours later, as she entered the apartment she shared with her girlfriend and took off her shoes and jacket; behind her, Willow nodded, giving the small bulge visible beneath her shirt a critical look before she removed her shoes and jacket as well and made her way to the living room, dropping down on the couch there.

"I hope so", she told her partner as soon as she had made herself comfortable, "I really don't want that dark magic to take over again and repeat what it did to you."

"Believe me, neither do I", the demon grimaced, sitting down next to her and finding her cigarettes; unlike usually when she lightened one of them up, she let out a row of harsh coughs this time after the first drag, prompting the witch to give her a concerned look while she sat up on the couch.

"Just another side effect of what that magic did", Pat explained as soon as she had managed to stop coughing, her voice sounding even hoarser than usual and, as Willow noticed to her dismay, her good eye tearing, "like the grey hair."

"Let's hope it's not permanent", the redhead sighed after a moment, giving the taller woman a dismayed look, "I wish I could have done something to stop that…"

"I don't think there was anything you could have done", Pat shrugged, clearly not as perturbed by this as her girlfriend, "and I'm sure it's not permanent, like my inability to flame up. A good night's rest will probably restore that, and reset my lungs, or whatever it is that has to be done so that won't happen again."

"I really hope you're right", Willow sighed, then smiled weakly, her next words making the demon smile as well, "and, oh boy, I'm doing a lot of hoping right now…"

"I'm sure all those hopes will be fulfilled", Pat tried to give her some reassurance, placing her cigarette in the ashtray on the table before she leaned in for a kiss; responding instantly, Willow wrapped both arms around her as the kiss deepened, not able to keep herself from sighing into her mouth when she felt the taller woman return the embrace and pull her even closer.

"Well", she breathed out after they finally had pulled apart again, mostly due to oxygen becoming an issue, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but at least, the magic's not taking over anymore when I'm aroused…"

"Good to know", Pat smirked, now with a well-known glint in her eye, one of her hands sliding down the witch's back, then snaking beneath her shirt, "cause you're not the only one."

"Glad to hear", Willow mumbled, then pulled her down for another kiss, simultaneously moving backwards, and just a short time later, as her shirt was pulled over her head and removed, all worries about the dark magic and what permanent damage might have done to her partner was forgotten.


	9. Chapter 9

Quite some time later, the redhead realized to her astonishment that she now was in the bedroom with her girlfriend; not sure when they had moved there from the couch, she slowly sat up, momentarily worried that the dark magic had taken over again after all, then realized how silly this thought was – after all, Pat surely would have noticed.

"Whereyagoin", the demon now muttered, forcing her eye open with some difficulty, briefly making Willow wonder if they had tired each other out that much or if this was another side effect from the dark magic's attack on her; then, she smiled and bent down for a quick kiss, her voice down to a low mumble as well when she replied. "Bathroom. Be right back."

"Uh-huh", Pat grunted into the pillow, forcing the witch to hold back a giggle; shaking her head, she got up from the bed and moved into the bathroom, briefly pausing there to look at the necklace in the mirror, only to blush moments later when she realized that she was completely naked and hadn't even thought of putting on a bathrobe or something similar when she had gotten out of bed.

"Well, it's only Pat and you around, and you know she doesn't mind", the redhead then muttered to herself, forcing those thoughts out of her mind; she quickly finished her business in the bathroom, then made her way back to the bedroom, a smile curling her lips when she found her partner fast asleep, soft snoring sounds coming from her.

"So cute", she whispered to herself, not having the heart to wake the taller woman up again; instead, she climbed into the bed beside her, then pulled the blanket over both Pat and herself, taking the time to study her slumbering lover afterwards, after a few minutes of just looking at her reaching out and taking tender hold of one of the grey strands of hair, running it through her fingers thoughtfully.

She still found it hard to believe that the dark magic within her had done this to her lover; for a moment, she felt like pretending that it wasn't part of her, then held back a sigh as she realized that this only would mean lying to herself, that the magic was part of her and always would be, had been ever since she had absorbed it all back in the Magic Box. Again she asked herself how much longer she would have to face repercussions for this, how much more pain and suffering it would cause for her friends and loved ones; then, telling herself that this wouldn't lead anywhere and that soon, it'd be under control again anyway, she let go of the strand of hair and snuggled closer to her partner, closing her eyes and quickly drifting off into sleep as well.

* * *

In the next morning, the couple had breakfast together, then Willow went to work on some assignments for college to pass the time until Mel would call while Pat equipped herself with a pair of earphones, then made herself comfortable on the couch to listen to what her partner always called "the noisy music", amusing her girlfriend with how she was unable to keep still at certain songs, either tapping her foot on the armrest with the rhythm or moving or her fingers on her stomach.

Even though the sight was amusing and endearing, Willow gave her best not to focus on it too much, knowing that she had to get some work done; then, after almost an hour of alternating between working on her assignments and watching her partner, with the taller woman oblivious to the admiring looks she was receiving, the phone finally rang, making her jump slightly in her seat before she got up to get the call, hoping that it'd be Mel with the intention to set a time for meditation.

"Willow, hello?" she took the call, smiling when the other witch's cheerful voice greeted her, then asked her how she was doing and if the amulet was working the way it was supposed to.

"I think so, yes", the redhead replied, "at least it did last night, when I was… oh… nevermind. It works." She gulped as she realized how close she had come to tell Mel that the necklace had worked just fine to keep the dark magic from taking over when she had been aroused; to her relief, the blonde either hadn't noticed this or decided to ignore it, just telling her that she was glad to hear that.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to come over now so we can meditate together", the other witch then went on, "and I hope you won't get this the wrong way, but… it'd be best if your girlfriend wouldn't be around while we do so, we'll need absolute peace and calm, and even if she won't mean to, she'll be a distraction."

"Oh she'll understand", Willow reassured her at once, "she's very supportive."

"That's very good", Mel let her know in reply, "you might need some support until the dark magic is fully back under control again, I know you won't be happy to hear that, but there might be some side effects until it's reigned back in."

"I was afraid you'd say something like that", Willow sighed out, not all too surprised though – it just would have been too easy to get the situation back under control with the amulet and some meditation – "but it'll be fine, she'll help me, we've been through much worse stuff before."

"I've heard about your adventures", Mel told her, and the redhead could practically hear the smile on her face, "so I don't doubt that for a second. I'll be over in an hour, alright?"

"Alright", Willow agreed, then asked if she should prepare anything, prompting Mel to inform her that it wasn't necessary and that she'd bring everything with her; thanking her once more, Willow let her know that she'd be ready, then said goodbye and hung up, placing the phone back on the table before she moved over to her girlfriend, said movement making the taller woman remove her headphones and look up at her quizzically.

"Mel just called", the witch told her partner, amused by the fact that the music had been so loud that Pat hadn't even noticed a thing, "she'll come over in an hour for the first meditation session… And, well, she said it'd be better if you wouldn't be around, cause you'd be distracting."

"Oh", the demon gave back, not all too smart, then sat up on the couch, "of course, no problem… I'll just drop by at the Magic Box, I'm sure Anya will find a way to keep me busy. It'll probably involve heavy boxes and lifting them."

"Probably", the witch giggled, then smiled and took a seat in her girlfriend's lap, making her put both arms around her waist immediately, "and thanks for understanding this, I told Mel you'd be supportive, but it's good to see I was right."

"Of course", Pat replied at once, "it'd be different if I had any doubts about this girl, but seeing she comes from the coven, I figure we can trust her, and she'll know what she's talking about."

"At least she did about the amulet", the redhead nodded, then remembered how she almost had let it slip that said amulet had kept the dark magic from taking over when she'd been aroused the night before and giggled to herself, prompting the black haired woman to give her yet another curious look.

"She asked me how it's working", she explained, interrupting herself with more giggling before she could go on, "and I had an Anya moment or something, I talked without thinking and nearly told her that it must work because the dark magic didn't take over when I was aroused yesterday."

"Oh my", the demon said with a snort, then chuckled slightly as well, "that surely would have made her blush. Unless she's like Anya, too, then she would have asked you if you had a nice orgasm."

"Pat!" Willow cried out in reply, not sure if she should be amused or shocked at the thought; in response, the taller woman just chuckled again, then craned her neck for a kiss, the redhead more than gladly meeting her halfway.

"There's something else Mel told me", she let her partner know after the kiss, "she said there'd be some side effects when we work on getting the magic back under control…"

"Like what?" Pat wanted to know, the smirk now gone from her face as she frowned, her frown only deepening when Willow shrugged in reply, sounding a bit sheepish when she spoke up again. "I have no idea, she didn't say. But maybe something like the withdrawal I went through when I tried to quit the first time… or when that nightmare demon cut the connection."

"I hope it won't be that bad", the demon grimaced in reply, "and that our new friend will have an idea how to make it easier on you, in case it actually does get that bad."

"So do I", Willow let her know, "but from what she said, I doubt it… I just hope it won't be too bad."

"How bad can it get?" Pat wanted to know, only to wish that she hadn't asked when Willow explained it to her, the black haired woman clearly not liking what she was hearing. "Kinda like drug withdrawal, you know… Shaking, sweating, if it gets really bad there even might be some throwing up… and possibly mood swings."

"Oh, I surely hope there won't be any mood swings, because that's clearly the worst thing on that list", the demon dryly replied, smiling a bit again when Willow giggled at her words, then shrugged, a slightly impish grin on her face when she answered. "Well, just so you know that you don't have to take it all too seriously if I start crying for no apparent reason."

"I don't think I'll be able to not take that seriously", the demon shrugged in reply, "I tend to get upset whenever you cry. But, yeah, I'll try to keep that in mind."

Nodding, the redhead smiled, then leaned down for a kiss, her smile widening slightly at what her partner said after they had pulled apart again. "Call me the moment you're done with the meditation thing, alright? Or, if you're too shaken up or something, ask Mel to call me, and I'll come running."

"Of course", Willow agreed at once, making her partner smile as well; they shared another tender kiss, then the witch got up from her place on the taller woman's lap at last to prepare some things Mel might want for the meditation while Pat moved into the bedroom to change into clothing more appropriate for going out, both of them making themselves comfortable again afterwards and waiting for the other witch to arrive.


	10. Chapter 10

"Hi Pat", Anya greeted the demon quite cheerfully as she entered the store, making it obvious that so far, it had been a good day for her – if sales were slow, she tended to be grumpy and not smile as wide as she was right in this moment – then amused the taller woman by trying to look past her, as if she suspected that Willow was hiding somewhere behind her.

"Where's Willow?" she added after a moment during which she hadn't been able to spot the witch anywhere, "normally, you only come here alone when I ask you for help with a delivery, and I didn't."

"Nope, you didn't", the demon confirmed, moving to the table normally used for Scoobie meetings and sitting down there, "but Mel's at our place right now, doing some mediation thingy with Willow to get the magic back under control, and she asked me to leave cause I'd be distracting. So, I figured I'd come here and see if you need help with anything."

"That's so kind of you!" Anya beamed, smiling brightly, "but unfortunately, I have no big boxes you could move around for me. Would you like some coffee? It's only a dollar!"

"You're selling coffee now?" Pat wanted to know, frowning, "are you allowed to do that? I thought you'd need some sort of extra license."

"Oh, I don't offer coffee to customers", the ex-demon clarified, "only to you guys. You know, Scoobie Gang members."

"So you're gonna charge _us_?" the taller woman nearly cried out, giving Anya an indignant look, "you're kidding, right? Anya, you don't charge your friends for drinks."

"Xander said the same", Anya pouted, "but I don't see why not! I have to pay for the ingredients for the coffee, and you should compensate me."

"Oh come on", Pat huffed, rolling her eye before she gave the ex-demon another incredulous look, "the coffee you use here is the cheapest available, and I know it costs like three dollars a pack. One dollar per cup is ripping us off, not us compensating you."

"So how much are you willing to pay?" Anya wanted to know, missing the point for a mile and making the demon roll her eye once more, the indignation still dominating in her voice when she answered. "Nothing, because you don't charge your friends for drinks when they drop by. That's just not cool. Imagine Willow and I did that whenever one of you guys is at our place and drinks something there!"

"Nothing's stopping you", Anya shrugged, "but fine, if you're so agitated by the thought of giving me a dollar, I'll give you the coffee for free."

"Thanks", Pat dryly gave back, prompting the ex-demon to roll her eyes before she moved behind the counter, finding a cup beneath it and filling it with the coffee she always kept there in case anyone of the gang dropped by and wanted some.

"So", she then said, as she added the four spoons of sugar she knew the demon liked, then poured a bit of milk into it, "do you think this Mel person will be able to help Willow?"

"I surely hope so", Pat sighed, accepting the cup when Anya handed it to her and thanking her, "it was getting kinda stressful to worry about that dark magic taking over all the time. Not to mention that the last time it took over, it leeched from me."

"I was wondering about the grey hair, but I thought it'd be rude to ask", the ex-demon gave back, prompting Pat to raise an eyebrow, her voice dry when she replied. "Really. That must have been a first."

"Don't be rude, now", Anya chided, "I just gave you free coffee."

"I wasn't rude, I was just honest", the demon protested, then gave her a sharp look as she spoke on. "And don't get started about the coffee again."

"Okay, okay", the brunette replied, rolling her eyes again; before she could make another comment about how she still thought that asking to be paid for the coffee was fair, the little bell above the door rang, signalling the entrance of another customer, and she hurried over to help the woman while Pat picked up a book at random and started to read, trying to pass the time until her phone would ring and she'd be told that she could come back home.

* * *

It took almost one and a half hours until the cell phone finally started blaring away in the demon's pocket, making Anya jump at the unexpected heavy guitars that echoed through the store; she gave the taller woman a reproachful look, which Pat skilfully ignored while she got the phone out, involuntarily smiling when she saw that it was Willow calling her.

"Hey Sweetie", she said after taking the call, "how'd it go?"

"I don't think Willow would like it that you call me Sweetie", Mel's voice answered her, prompting the demon to let out a startled little noise, with which she made the witch laugh slightly before she went on. "I promise I won't tell her though. It went surprisingly well, seeing it was the first session, but you should come here quickly. Willow's not… feeling all too well."

"I'm on my way", the black haired woman replied at once, then ended the call without another word and tucked the phone into her pocket again while she started moving already, calling out to Anya that she had to go and not even seeing the ex-demon nod in reply anymore as she already was hurrying towards the shop's front door.

Just like she had told Willow, she didn't bother walking back to the apartment, but made her way there with a mix of jogging and running; to her dismay, she still felt the effect the dark magic's leeching of her power had had on her, running out of breath unsettlingly quickly, well aware of the fact that, under normal conditions, she would have been able to run all the way.

Despite the limitations put upon her, she still made it to the apartment in record time; when she stepped out of the elevator, the door was already open and Mel was waiting for her, momentarily making her wonder how the blonde had known that she had arrived, a question which was answered seconds later.

"I was looking out the window, waiting for you", the witch explained, having noticed the surprised expression on the demon's face, "you were quite fast. Willow's in the bedroom."

"Alright, thanks", Pat gave back, nodding when Mel told her that she'd leave now and that she'd left her phone number on the living room table; not even bothering to glance there, the demon took off her shoes and jacket as fast as possible, then hurried to the bedroom, her heart leaping up to her throat when she spotted her partner on the bed there, buried beneath two blankets and still shivering violently.

"Sweetie", she carefully spoke up, not wanting to startle her partner, "Mel called me, and I ran here, like I promised… how are you feeling?"

"Cold", the redhead brought out through chattering teeth, "and t-t-tired…"

In response, Pat took the time to check the radiator in the room, glad to see that someone had turned it to full blast; the room was already warming up, but still Willow was trembling beneath her blankets, her teeth chattering so hard that the demon could hear it where she was standing.

"Do you feel nauseous?" she carefully asked as she moved over to the bed, remembering what Willow had told her about the possible side effects of the work she had to do with Mel; to her relief, the witch shook her head, her voice trembling along with the rest of her when she spoke up again. "C-could you ju-just hold me…?"

"Of course", the demon gave back at once, joining the redhead in the bed moments later and pulling her into a tender embrace; at once, Willow almost clung to her, still shaking from head to toe, small beads of sweat now forming on her forehead and slowly rolling down her face.

"I didn't th-think it'd b-be this b-bad", she brought out, briefly closing her eyes when the demon responded by caressing her back tenderly, "and i-it's just been the f-first session…"

"I'm sure it'll be better soon", the taller woman tried to give her some comfort in reply, even though deep down, she wasn't too sure of it – while she had been at the Magic Box, Anya had mentioned some unpleasant details about the first withdrawal Willow had gone through, and after hearing those things from the ex-demon, Pat feared that for a while, it'd get even worse before there'd be any improvement.

Since she didn't want to upset her partner in her current state though, she wisely kept those thoughts to herself and just did what Willow had asked her to do; she held her until the shaking finally slowed down, then stopped fully, the witch now feeling tired and drained, but at least not so awfully cold anymore.

"Feel better?" Pat asked as soon as her partner had stopped trembling; turning slightly in the embrace so she could look at her, Willow nodded, momentarily startling the demon with how pale her face was and the dark rings which had formed beneath her eyes, looking almost like bruises.

"A bit", the redhead muttered, smiling weakly when the taller woman moved one hand to caress her hair, a heavy yawn escaping her moments later.

"I' tired", she added, stating something which was quite obvious; smiling as well, Pat pulled her even closer to herself, telling her to get some rest then while she did so.

"I know you're not tired", Willow mumbled in reply, already sounding as if she was half-asleep, "but will you stay here with me?"

"Of course", the demon reassured her at once, making her smile again; yawning once more, she snuggled even closer to the taller woman, closing her eyes after she had made herself comfortable and quickly drifting off into sleep, Pat holding her close to her as she slumbered peacefully, looking up at the ceiling and asking herself how much worse things might get before everything would be under control again.


	11. Chapter 11

Willow slept deeply for almost three hours, and by the time she woke up again, she was slightly amused to see that her partner had drifted off into sleep as well while she had been lying in bed with her, holding her; for a moment, she considered waking her up, then decided against it, figuring it'd be a lousy way to repay her for how supportive she had been when she had come back home after the first meditation session.

Carefully, she moved out of the embrace, smiling when the demon let out a low grunt at her movements, didn't wake up though; still giving her best to be quiet, Willow got out of bed, and suddenly the world started to spin around her and her knees gave in beneath her.

_Backwards, try to fall backwards, _she still had time to think, giving her best to do just that; somehow, she managed, and thus didn't end up on the floor, but halfway on the bed and halfway on her partner, prompting her to jerk awake with a small surprised noise.

"Sorry", Willow mumbled, feeling less dizzy now that she wasn't standing anymore, "I'm not sure what just happened…"

"Whatever it was, it was quite startling", Pat gave back while her partner sat up so she could do the same, "did you lose your balance or something?"

"Something like that", the witch sighed, "I wanted to get up and got kinda dizzy and fell. At least I had enough sense to fall backwards, so I landed on you instead of on the floor. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no worries", the demon reassured her at once, "and even if you did, we should be more concerned about you now. Is this normal?"

"I'm not sure", Willow had to admit, "it didn't happen during the time I was in England with the coven, the shaking and everything did, but not the dizziness… we should ask Mel."

"Sounds like a plan", Pat agreed, "she said something about leaving her phone number on the living room table when she left, I'll go get that and be right back."

Nodding, Willow watched how her partner got up and left the bedroom, then made herself comfortable on the bed again; after how her first try to get up had ended, she wasn't keen on trying again too quickly, but told herself that she'd wait until Pat would come back so the demon could catch her, should her legs fail her again.

To her relief, it didn't take long until the black haired woman made her way back into the bedroom, now holding the phone and a piece of paper; she sat down next to Willow, then handed both items to her, suggesting that she should make the call since she'd be able to describe what exactly had happened, unlike her, seeing that she still had been fast asleep when the witch had ended up falling on her.

Figuring that this made sense, Willow accepted both the phone and the piece of paper, then dialled the number Mel had written on it in her quite tidy handwriting; to her relief, the call was taken after the second ring, the blonde witch's cheerful voice drifting through the receiver as she answered with a bright "Hello?".

"It's me, Willow", the redhead introduced herself, "I'm not calling at a bad time, am I?"

"Of course not", Mel reassured her at once, and she could hear the smile on her face, "what is it?"

"Just a small question", the redhead gave back, smiling slightly as well, her smile widening when she felt Pat grasp her free hand and hold it, "I knew about the shivering and feeling awfully cold and everything, but… I slept for almost three hours after you'd left, and when I tried to get up, I still felt dizzy and fell down. Is that normal?"

"My Goodness, are you hurt?" Mel wanted to know instead of answering her question, making her smile widen slightly while she let the other witch know that she was fine, then added that she hadn't gotten hurt because she had landed on her slumbering partner.

"Poor Pat", Mel giggled, "I hope she didn't get hurt, either?"

"Oh no, she's robust", the witch smiled, earning a raised eyebrow from her partner and giving her a look that told her she would explain later, "no worries. So… is this normal?"

"I wasn't sure if it would happen, so I didn't mention it, I didn't want to freak you out", Mel sighed in reply, "but, yes, it is a possibility. That dark magic is really strong within you, Willow, and of course it's fighting against being taken under control again…"

"It should just be reasonable and give in", Willow muttered, "stupid dark magic… Will this get any worse before it gets better?"

"Probably", Mel let her know, making her frown slightly, "which is why I suggest that you take it easy for the rest of the day after each session."

"Seems like I don't have much of a choice about that", Willow sighed out in reply, "but thanks, anyway."

"You're welcome", Mel gave back, "just call me again the moment anything else comes up, alright?"  
"Will do", the redhead promised, then ended the call and put the phone back on the table before giving her girlfriend quite the miserable look.

"She said that this will probably get even worse before there's an improvement", she then let the taller woman know, not sure how much she had heard of the things the other witch had said on her end of the line, "and that thus, I should take it easy for the rest of the day after each session."

"How often does she want to do that again?" Pat wanted to know in reply, frowning slightly, her frown only deepening when Willow replied. "Every second day… She said that we have to get the dark magic under control fast, the amulet works now, but it won't do so forever."

"Great", the demon sighed out, giving her partner's hand another squeeze afterwards, "but I guess she knows what she's talking about…"

"She does", Willow nodded, smiling slightly, "she's quite powerful, I felt that today when we meditated…"

"I really should learn more about this whole magic thing", Pat pondered out loud in reply, making the witch smile, "just so I can tell such things, as well. To me, she's just an ordinary chick."

"I can teach you how to spot that", the redhead offered in reply, "as soon as the dark magic is under control again, Mel said I shouldn't do any spells or anything magic-related until then, or it might take over again."

"That makes sense", the demon nodded, then her partner's stomach rumbled loudly and prompted her to raise an eyebrow at the smaller woman, a hint of amusement in her voice when she continued. "And I guess now, it's time to get some food into that tummy, before it growls even louder than I do when I'm pissed."

"Yes", Willow agreed with a giggle, coming to her feet again, glad when this time, her legs didn't fail her; still Pat felt it necessary to put one arm around her, making sure that she wouldn't end up on the floor again after all, the witch briefly smiling at her before they made their way into the kitchen together to find something edible there, their worries about the dark magic and what it might do before this was back under control once more pushed to the far back of their minds.

* * *

During the next three weeks, Mel came over every other day, as it had been planned; and each time, she called the demon after two hours and asked her to come back as fast as possible, a fact which prompted Pat to stop going to the Magic Box and sit in the café close to their home instead, keeping herself busy with reading a book until her phone would ring.

With the same regularity, she'd find Mel waiting for her at the door and Willow in the bedroom, buried beneath at least two blankets, sometimes even three, shivering and sweating at the same time, at times feeling so exhausted that she barely could say a word when her girlfriend came back.

Each time she'd find her partner like this, there was only one thing Pat could do, and to her relief, it was the only thing Willow needed – she climbed into bed with her and held her until the shaking stopped, sometimes doing so for an hour, sometimes even longer. To the dismay of both the witch and the demon, the situation didn't seem to improve at all during those three weeks; the state of the redhead was always the same when Pat returned to her, and even after several hours had passed after each session, Willow found herself weak and unsteady on her legs, her heart rate going through the roof when she merely tried to stand up.

Both Mel and Giles reassured the couple though that this wasn't anything they needed to worry about; the Watcher pointed out that the amount of dark magic Willow had loaded up with back then, after Tara's untimely death, had been exceptionally big, and that thus, it would take a while to get it under full control again.

"I hope it'll get better soon anyway", Willow sighed out after yet another long and tiring session, finally finding herself able to speak again after just lying in her partner's embrace for almost an hour, shaking so hard that her teeth had been chattering again and had made her incapable of proper communication, "I'm getting sick of ending up like this after each session…"

"I imagine", Pat showed sympathy, moving one hand to caress her partner's sweaty hair, "but you know what Giles and Mel said…"

"I do", Willow grumbled, displaying one of the mood swings she had warned her girlfriend about, her mood abruptly going from just dismayed to seriously annoyed, not startling the taller woman anymore though since this had happened several times since she had started working with Mel on getting the dark magic back under control.

"We should ask her if it'll get better soon", Pat suggested in reply, successfully ignoring the annoyance in her partner's voice, knowing that this was the best thing to do whenever such a change in her mood occurred, "I mean, you've been doing this for a while now, it should start paying off anytime soon now, right?"

"Yes, it should", the redhead agreed, "but what if it doesn't? I'm not sure if I can keep doing this any longer, it's so draining and I have enough of shaking for hours after each session…"

"I understand, Sweetie", the demon tried to give her some reassurance, "and I know it's hard on you, but you know you have to go through with it, right?"

"Yes, of course", Willow sighed, then rolled over in the taller woman's embrace so she could finally look at her, after she had been lying with her back to her ever since Pat had come back to the apartment and had joined her in bed again, regretting it when she momentarily felt dizzy. "But I just wish it would be easier… it wouldn't this bad when I was with the coven, it seems as if the dark magic is fighting back much more this time…"

"Well, when it took the time to talk to me, it told me how much it hated it to be stuck in the back of your mind, and that you're using it for good deeds", the demon shrugged, "so maybe that's why it fights more this time. It doesn't want to go back."

"Too bad for it, cause it has to", the witch mumbled, making her partner nod and give her a calming smile before she replied. "Yes, it has to, and it will, I'm sure. Also, see the good side, ever since you started wearing that amulet, it hasn't taken over anymore."

"Yeah, that's something", the redhead agreed, "and I'm glad all of you get along with Mel so well. It's like she's almost part of the group already."

"Well, it's hard not to get along with her", the demon smirked, "she's easy to like. And she knows how to impress people, I mean, going on patrol with Buffy and setting those two vamps on fire really worked to raise the respect we all have for her."

"Yeah, Buffy was practically gushing when she told me of that", Willow giggled, "it really impressed her. Kinda surprising, I mean, you burn vamps all the time."

"I guess she's used to it from me", Pat shrugged, "it's not surprising anymore when I do it. Or when I demon out. That was only surprising to Mel."

"And she said you look cute", Willow reminded her, giggling again when the taller woman let out a low growl at being reminded of that unpleasant moment; giving her an innocent look, the redhead leaned in for a kiss, then rolled over once more so that she ended up flat on her back now, looking up at the ceiling. Now that she had spoken of the moment Pat had demoned out in front of Mel to show her how her demonic side looked, she also remembered the hope she had had that the taller woman's grey hair would go back to black and red; to her dismay, this hadn't happened, the grey strands still being there, a constant reminder of what the dark magic had done to her loved one.

"You're not thinking about my hair again, are you", Pat wanted to know, astonishing the witch for a moment – before she shook it off, telling herself that this wasn't surprising, after all the time they had spent together.

"Yes", she admitted, knowing there was no use in denying it, "I can't help it, you know…"

"I noticed", the demon gave back, propping herself up one arm so she could look at her face again, "and as I've told you before, you should stop that. That's the only permanent effect that draining or whatever it was had on me, so there's nothing to worry about, Sweetie. And anyway, I think it kinda makes me look more distinguished and wise."

The last part had the effect Pat had desired when she had said the words – the redhead let out yet another giggle, the worried expression gone from her face again.

"And you made a good point about how this will keep people from noticing that you don't really age", she then added, making the taller woman nod once more; the couple shared another kiss, then Willow let out a hearty yawn, once more realizing how tired she felt now that yet another session was over.

"I need some sleep", she muttered after the yawn, making Pat nod in reply; as always during the last three weeks, she pulled the witch into her arm again and held her close as she drifted off into sleep, her embrace giving her the reassurance and peace she needed for proper, restful sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: I really need to work on my chapter length… the first half of this alone would have been too short. Now I worry it's too long. Hope you'll enjoy, anyway ;)

* * *

"…and then I asked him how he can have bad breath, as a vampire, seeing he doesn't breathe, and staked him", Dawn proudly told the rest of the group – sans Giles – of her latest adventures during patrol with Buffy as they all sat around one of the bigger tables of the Bronze; next to her, her sister rolled her eyes while the rest of the gang chuckled and giggled at her pun, their sounds of mirth prompting the Slayer to cross her arms over her chest.

"It wasn't _that_ funny", she pouted, "I've come up with much better puns since I'm the Slayer!"

"Well, you've had more time to practice", Dawn pointed out in reply, "and come on, everyone else thought it was funny!"

"Yes, it was", Mel agreed, taking a sip of her drink before she went on. "And I have to say, it's quite hard to come up with puns right before killing a vampire. My mind was a total blank, I could only focus on my spell so they'd die and wouldn't eat me!"

"It must run in the family", Pat smirked in reply to that, "cause my puns aren't all too great either."

"Aw, that's not true", Willow cooed at once, "you've made a few good ones…"

"Was that supposed to cheer me up?" the demon dryly wanted to know, making everyone laugh again; the noise they were making drew the glances of several other guests, but they all ignored that skilfully, having too much of a good time to worry about what other people might think of them.

"You guys are all so awesome", Mel sighed out, changing the topic quite randomly, but since it was flattering for the whole gang, they all accepted it without question, "and I'm so glad you made me feel so welcome here!"

"Well, you came here to help Willow, so of course we'd make you feel welcome", Buffy replied, then realized that this might have gotten out wrong when Mel gave her a confused look and cleared her throat, quickly speaking on. "I mean, we also would have made you feel welcome if you'd come here for another reason, or if you for some reason wouldn't have been able to help her, you know? And anyway, you're really nice, so…"

"Buffy", Willow interrupted her, laughing, "you're babbling. That's my job."

"Right", the Slayer apologized at once, "sorry. Anyway, we like you and that's it, okay?"

"Sure", Mel smiled, "and you guys are all pretty nice, too. So who wants to dance?"

"Not me", the redhead shook her head at once, "I'm still too drained." Next to her, Pat gave her a brief concerned look, then declined the dancing as well, explaining that she'd stay here with her partner, not surprising anyone; the rest of the gang got up from their seats to join the dancing, briefly making the couple wonder what Giles would have done, had he come here with them, both of them finding themselves unable to imagine him dancing.

"You know", Willow started the moment everyone had headed towards the dance floor and they had been left behind, leaning closer to her partner and placing one hand on her upper leg, "I know I'm normally not into exchanging more than innocent smoochies in public, but this table is quite far at the back, and I don't think anyone is paying attention on us… Not with Anya and Xander dancing." With those words, she pointedly looked at the couple and made her partner snort slightly – after all, the dancing of the two could be called a lot of things, but certainly not "elegant" or "skilful".

"So", Pat smirked after watching the dancing – or maybe flailing – couple for another moment, focusing on her partner again, "you think they're a good diversion and we can make out?"

"That's pretty much it, yes", the witch confirmed, only to squeal seconds later when the demon reacted by leaning over and pulling her into her lap; she let out a small giggle, then entwined her fingers behind the taller woman's neck and bent down, their lips meeting moments later.

For the next few minutes, neither of them was capable of paying any attention on their surroundings; then, the DJ switched from the rather fast-paced songs he had been playing for the last hour to a slow one, and half a minute later, Dawn's voice came up rather close to them, causing them to pull apart.

"Hey, I told you that you shouldn't let me interrupt anything", the teenager repeated her words, smirking at them; clearing her throat, Willow could feel her cheeks heat up, deciding that she wouldn't say the first response which had come to her mind, only for Pat to do exactly that, and with stunningly similar wording. "Well, to be honest, I only heard your voice, I couldn't exactly figure out what you were saying."

"No surprise there", Mel smirked as she sat down at the table again as well, followed by Buffy, Xander and Anya apparently staying behind to enjoy the slow dance, "you guys were quite… busy with each other. I have to say, it's cute. When I heard about you dating a demon, I was really wondering how that is working out."

"Yeah, you've mentioned this before", Pat smirked, clearly not taking offense, "but, as you can see, it works out just fine."

"That's pretty obvious, you know", Mel teased while Willow shifted on her partner's lap slightly so she ended up sitting on her sideways and could look at the others again, "and it's a really good thing, too, because, as you surely know, positive feelings help with keeping the dark magic at bay."

"Well, actually…" Pat started, only to fall silent at the look Willow shot her, clearing her throat before she finished with, "that's a good point", not surprised when the other witch gave her a sceptical look – before she smiled brightly, her next words making Buffy choke on the sip of her drink she just had taken while Dawn went wide-eyed. "No need to give her that look, Willow, I know it can take over when you're having… certain feelings of arousal."

"Oh God", the redhead brought out, blushing until her facial colour nearly matched her hair while Pat just smirked, clearly not as disturbed by this as her partner; before any of them could say anything else though, Buffy suddenly sat up straight in her chair, her eyes narrowing as she focused one of the men on the dance floor.

"What is it?" Willow wanted to know at once, thankful for the distraction, "is your Slayer sense tingling?"

"Yes", the blonde replied at once, "look at the guy over there, the one dancing close to Anya…"

Since by now, her ability to spot vampires even among crowds had reached uncanny heights, none of them doubted her words; they all focused on the man she had pointed out to them, watching how he danced closer to a teenaged girl, after a while putting one hand on her hip, smiling when she didn't step away, but reacted by putting both hands on his shoulders.

"And he's got a target", Pat commented, "I wonder why these girls never notice how cold the hands of their dancing partners are."

"Good point", Mel agreed, then gave Buffy a curious look, making the Slayer look at her as she spoke on. "So what will you do now? Stake him in here?"

"No, can't do that", Buffy declined at once, "that would be too much even for the citizens of Sunnydale. We gotta wait until he goes outside with her… Hey Pat, you wanna come along then? It's been a while since you've beaten something up."

"Sure", the demon agreed at once, not really surprising anyone at the table, except for Mel who raised an eyebrow at the comment about Pat not having beaten anything up for a while, "if you're okay with it, that is, Sweetie."

"Sure, go with Buffy and have fun", Willow smiled in reply, "while you're gone, I'll explain to Mel why you need to beat things up every now and then."

"You do that", Buffy nodded, her eyes still fixed on the vampire as she watched how he whispered something to the girl; apparently, it had been something quite funny, since she giggled, then nodded, and he grasped her hand, making his way to the club's exit with her moments later.

"And we go outside and be heroes", the Slayer added at the sight, prompting Willow to get off Pat's lap so the demon could stand up; together, Buffy and the taller woman followed the vampire and his designated victim outside while the redhead sat back down, smiling at Mel as she started to explain why her partner needed to beat vampires and demons up on a more or less regular basis, the other witch listening with obvious fascination.

* * *

"Where did they go?" Buffy whispered as she stepped outside with the demon right next to her, making sure the vampire wouldn't hear her in case he was still close; before Pat could answer, a low thump came from the alley to their left, answering the question Buffy had asked.

"Okay, now we know", the Slayer thus stated, "let's go and finish him then, but remember, no flames, we don't want to traumatize the poor girl."

"I think the vampire will traumatize her enough", Pat pointed out, didn't protest though; giving her best to be quiet, she sneaked over to the alley and peered around the corner, not surprised to see that the vampire had pinned the girl against the wall and had already put on his game face, to the demon's disgust drooling as he tried to make his victim hold still long enough so he could bite her.

"We better be quick", she whispered to the Slayer after the brief look, "he's not wasting any time." As if to prove what she had said to be right, the vampire now spoke up, telling the girl to hold still and that it wouldn't hurt much; before he could sink his teeth into her neck though, the demon had moved around the corner and now was strolling casually towards the two, acting as if she was having no idea of what was going on.

"Excuse me, mate", she spoke up, making the vampire look at her in irritation, "would you happen to have a lighter? I seem to have lost mine."

"Get lost", he snarled at her in response, momentarily clearly surprised by how she didn't seem scared by his looks at all, "we're busy here!"

"Oh my", the demon gave back, forcing Buffy, who still was waiting around the corner, to hold back a giggle at the absolutely believable surprise she had put in her voice, "maybe you should stop whatever you were doing here and go to a hospital. Is this an allergic reaction?"

"What?" the vampire gave back, flabbergasted for a moment, then apparently remembered that he was supposed to be evil and scary. "No!" he thus added, growling at the demon, only now noticing that she had been moving closer to him while she had been talking, "I'm a vampire, you stupid—"

Before he could finish the sentence, Pat's fist shot out and landed right on his jaw with painful aim; letting out a yelp that was a mixture of surprise and pain, he stumbled a few steps back, and to his dismay, she kept up with him, two more punches following suit and forcing him back even further until his back hit the wall.

"I know, stupid", he heard her say, and with a growl, launched himself towards her, trying to hit back at last, but instead of standing still and taking the hit, as it would have been the decent thing to do, she ducked and tackled him, slamming her shoulder against his legs and then she straightened up again and he found himself flying for a few seconds before he hit the ground.

"Good one", another female voice chimed in, and then Buffy bent over the vampire to smile down on him, making him freeze as he recognized her; he hurriedly tried to come to his feet again, but before he could do more than sitting up, she planted one foot on his chest and forced him down again with terrifying ease, his terror only growing when she reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out a wooden stake.

"Guess it's the end of the road for you here, buddy", she says casually, and then the door of the club bursts open behind her and another girl comes running out, younger than both the women here, and looking so horrified that it makes the look on the vampire's face one of absolute happiness.

"Dawn?!" Buffy called out, her voice a mixture of dismay and surprise, "what are you doing out here? That vampire's down, but it still might be dangerous, so you better…"

"It's Willow", Dawn interrupted her before she could finish her sentence, her gaze frantically moving back and forth between her sister and Pat, "I don't know what exactly happened, but… the dark magic…"

"What?" the demon snapped while Buffy's eyes went wide; helplessly, Dawn just shrugged, the Slayer getting over her shock a second later, her gaze focusing on Pat again and her voice taking on a commanding tone as she spoke up again. "You get inside and take care of whatever is going on there, I'll finish this guy here."

Giving her a brief, but grateful look, the demon nodded her agreement, then hurried over to the club's entrance, followed by Dawn; the moment she pushed the door open, she realized that handling this might not be as easy as she had thought at first – after all, it would be hard to explain to all the guests why her girlfriend was floating in the air above the dance floor, empty cups and pieces of paper twirling in the air around her, her black eyes narrowed as she looked at the terrified people all around.

"None of you has any idea about what this town really is", she was saying as Pat entered the club, staring at her in disbelief, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how the magic had been able to take over again, with the amulet and all the meditating Willow had done during the last weeks with Mel, "but I'll show you now, I'll show you the evil of this place and I'll make you its slaves…"

"Pat", the urgent whisper of Mel next to her distracted her from staring at her partner, "thank Goodness you're here, I'll need your help for this…"

"Tell me what to do", the demon responded at once, grimacing at the other witch's response, then shrugging it off, telling herself that, if this was the only chance to push the dark magic back yet again, she'd do it – and judging from the guilty look on the blonde's face, that was the only thing she had been able to come up with on such short notice.

"The moment she'll see you, she'll try to leech your strength again", Mel hurriedly explained, still keeping her voice low so the dark magic wouldn't hear her and stop their little plan before it could even start, "I'll infuse you with white magic, like we did with Giles when Willow went evil, that should push it back… Xander and Anya are looking for the amulet, let's hope they'll find it until then…"

For a moment, Pat wanted to ask why it was gone in the first place, then nearly smacked herself – there surely would be time for such questions later, but asking them now would only waste precious moments, and thus, she just nodded without asking any questions, merely telling the blonde to go ahead and do it. Nodding, Mel gave her another apologetic look, then grasped her hands and closed her eyes; for a few seconds, the demon didn't feel anything, already asking herself if it wasn't working – when all at once, sharp pain shot through her brain, forcing her to bite down on her tongue to hold back a groan or even a scream.

"Sorry", Mel apologized at once, still holding her hands, the pain at least not intensifying, but remaining at the level it had started, "I guess it hurts cause you're a demon…"

"But I'm a good demon", Pat finally managed to reply as the pain started to fade away at last; Mel just gave her another apologetic look and shrugged, the demon taking a moment to clear her mind before she set her jaw and pushed through the staring crowd, closer to the still floating Willow.

"Yo!" she called out the moment she was close enough to be sure the witch would hear her, "I know I said you shouldn't levitate our friends, but levitating yourself isn't all too good, either!"

"Oh, there you are", the dark magic within her partner replied, looking down on her with a slight smirk on her face, "I was hoping you'd come back. I need to… borrow… some of your strength again. You don't mind, do you?" While she had been speaking, she already had lowered herself back to the ground; gritting her teeth in reply, Pat took a step back, knowing that she had to let it happen, but also dreading the pain already and hoping that at least, the magic Mel had infused her with would keep her from gaining even more grey hair than she already had, not daring to hope it would keep the pain away, as well.

"No witty comeback, this time?" Willow smiled at her, then shrugged, closing the distance between the taller woman and herself with one large step, "fine with me. I don't need your words, just your power." And with those words, she put one hand on her chest again like she had done the first time she had leeched from her; the demon just had a second to wonder how bad it would hurt, then the blinding pain shot through her again and she let out a hoarse cry, stars exploding in front of her eye before the world around her turned dark and she went down, not even noticing anymore how Willow mimicked her a few moments later.


	13. Chapter 13

When Pat came back around, she was surprised to find herself not in the Bronze anymore, but in the backseat of a car; a moment later, she realized that the car was moving, and blinked in confusion, giving her best to ignore how the world was spinning around her when she sat up.

"Thank God you're awake", Anya's voice came from the passenger seat, and moments later, the ex-demon had turned in said seat so she could look at her, "we were already starting to get worried. You don't have to puke, right? Because if you do, Xander will stop the car, so you won't do it in here, getting the smell of puke out of a car takes ages."

"I don't have to puke, but I might change my mind if you keep talking about it", Pat grumbled in reply, fighting down the urge to ask her if the grey in her hair had increased; since she didn't feel even close to how drained and tired she had been when the dark magic had leeched from her the first time, she figured that at least that part of Mel's plan had worked out and that the dark magic had taken the white magic in instead of her strength.

"Where's Willow?" she demanded to know the moment she realized that the redhead wasn't in the car with her, "is she okay?"

"She was still out cold when we put her in Giles' car", Anya shrugged, "so I don't know. At least Mel said though that her plan worked out, or she wouldn't have fainted when she tried to use you as a human battery again. I mean, demonic battery."

"A battery of some sort, at least", Pat sighed, "and how come Giles and his car were there to take her home?"

"Buffy thought of calling him when she came back from dusting that vampire and saw you both out cold", Xander explained, without taking his gaze off the road for a second, "oh, and Mel did some sort of magical memory mess up blanket spell thing, so supposedly, no one who's been there remembers a thing."

"Well, that's something", Pat sighed, finally getting a good look at herself in the rear view mirror and, to her relief, seeing that she hadn't gained any more grey hair this time, "or we would've had a lot of explaining to do the next time we would've gone there."

"Oh, I'm not sure", Anya shrugged, "there've been weird things happening there all the time and no one ever asked us anything. Once, Spike dusted a vampire right in the middle of the dance floor, and the band just kept on playing after a few seconds."

"Not surprising", the demon commented, then glanced out of the rear window, relieved when she spotted Giles' car right behind Xander's.

"Willow, Mel and Giles are in that one", Anya let her know as she noticed her looking, "Buffy and Dawn walked home from the Bronze, poor Dawn was pretty upset after seeing evil Willow again."

"That wasn't evil Willow", Pat corrected her at once, "it was just the dark magic. Not her using it, the other way round."

"I know", the ex-demon shrugged off her protest, "but it looked like evil Willow, well except for the lack of black hair, so no wonder Dawn was scared."

"Indeed", the black haired woman had to agree after a moment, "let's hope she'll, I dunno, get over that until she'll meet Willow again or things might get awkward."

"Oh, I'm sure she will", Xander shrugged, now looking for a parking lot as they had arrived at the apartment building, "she knows it's not evil Willow, like you said. Why is there no free parking anywhere here?"

"Just park in front of the building", Pat shrugged, "you don't need to come upstairs with us, we'll be fine. If Willow's still out, I can carry her."

"Alright then", Xander shrugged, only to yelp when moments later, Anya smacked him on the arm, sounding indignant when she spoke up. "No, not alright? What if Willow is still evil?!"

"Then it won't help much if you guys will be around, either", Pat answered before the young man had a chance to, "and to be honest, I'd rather not put the two of you in danger, which I would if you'd be around in case Willow's still evil."

"Yeah", Xander agreed at once, "I mean, you're a demon and kinda supernatural, and we're just squishy humans."

"My point exactly", Pat smirked, biting back a comment about how she was just as squishy in her human form; Xander smiled back at her, then stopped the car in front of the apartment building, asking her if she was sure that they'd be alright as soon as the vehicle had come to a standstill.

"Yeah, no worries", the demon reassured him, thanking him for driving her here afterwards before she got out of the car; behind Xander's, Giles brought his to a stop, then the back door opened and Mel climbed out, the demon watching how she bent into the car again a moment later and helped Willow to get out as well, the redhead still visibly shaky on her feet.

"Hey", the black haired woman called out, jogging over to the two witches, glad that at least this time, the dark magic hadn't managed to feel her so awfully drained and tired, "I'll take it from here if you don't mind, Mel…"

"Oh, no, of course not", the blonde witch gave back at once, making sure to only let go of Willow until the taller woman had put her arm around her partner's waist, smiling up at her afterwards.

"I don't want to keep you for long", she went on while the redhead tiredly leaned against her girlfriend, "just let me suggest that I'll come over for meditation tomorrow, we need to get this back under control, and just the amulet won't help much longer, now that it has been removed and put back on."

"Why was it removed anyway?" Pat wanted to know, then remembered that her partner barely could stand upright and shook her head, quickly telling Mel that she should tell her tomorrow and making the blonde witch nod.

"Now you better get Willow upstairs, and into bed", she then added, "she needs to get some sleep, and fast."

"Indeed", the redhead mumbled, by now barely able to keep her eyes open anymore; Pat took one look at her, then nodded at Mel, still taking the time to thank her for her help before she carefully led her partner over to the building's front door, tightening her grip around her a bit while she dug out her keys and unlocked it, then moved inside with her, her concern clearly showing through her voice when she asked if she could make it to the elevator or if she should carry her.

"I can make it", Willow mumbled after a moment of thinking about it, "and now please tell me I didn't hurt you again…"

"It was never you", the demon reassured her at once, "not the last time, and not this time. And anyway, this time, nothing too bad happened, but I'll explain once you got some sleep."

"Sounds like a plan", the witch agreed, blinking her eyes furiously afterwards to keep them open, telling herself that she'd at least had to stay awake until they were in the apartment; even though she gave her best to do so though, she couldn't keep her eyes from falling close again and again during the ride up on the elevator, and when Pat finally decided that she couldn't make it on her own after all and picked her up on her arms, she was so relieved that it was almost ridiculous.

"Thanks", she brought out between two monstrous yawns, leaning her head against the taller woman's shoulder as she was carried out of the elevator and down the hallway; telling her not to mention it, the demon stopped in front of the door, briefly faced with the problem how to unlock it, then somehow managing to get the key into the keyhole without accidentally dropping her girlfriend.

"Come on", she then mumbled, removing her shoes by stepping down on the heel and pulling her feet out, even though she knew this would ruin them if she did it too often, "let's get you into bed, and for once, I don't mean this in the kinky sense."

To her relief, the witch let out a small, weak giggle at her words; she smiled down on her, then made her way into the bedroom with her and carefully lowered her on the bed there, taking off her jacket before she moved to the bed's foot end to take off her partner's shoes.

"And now you'll undress me without having anything kinky in mind", Willow mumbled as she felt how the taller woman unbuttoned her pants, then pulled them down, by now too tired to keep her eyes open; she heard Pat chuckle slightly, then her pants were gone and she could feel how the buttons of her blouse were unbuttoned.

"I must be losing my touch", the demon commented, still smiling, somehow managing to remove her blouse without forcing her to sit up or even tearing it, "let's hope it's no permanent thing."

"I'm sure it's not", Willow muttered, letting out a small sigh when Pat put the blanket over her, then finally managed to force her eyes open again so she could look at her partner, the tiredness in her gaze making the taller woman's heart clench up.

"I know I've asked this about a thousand times since the meditation thing started", the witch added, distracting the demon from her concern about her, "but… can you hold me? That magic coming back out was really… creepy. And scary."

"Hey, I'll never grow tired of holding you", the taller woman reassured her, hurriedly undressing as well and joining her partner in bed, "not if we both live to be a thousand."

"Well, you might, but I won't", Willow sighed, momentarily confronting herself with the fact that, unlike her, her girlfriend didn't age, something she usually pushed aside successfully; apparently, Pat wasn't willing to think about this at the moment either, since she just made some non-committal noise, then pulled the redhead into a hug and held her close, once more caressing her hair until she drifted off into sleep, only allowing herself to do the same the moment she could be sure that Willow was slumbering deeply and was getting the rest she needed.


	14. Chapter 14

When Willow woke up in the next morning, she felt surprisingly refreshed, considering what had happened at the Bronze the night before; upon turning over in the bed though, she realized that she apparently had slept much longer than usual, since her partner's side of the bed was empty, showing her that Pat had gotten up already, making it one of the rare days on which she woke up first.

Now that she was fully back in the land of the awake, she could hear rummaging from the kitchen, making it clear to her that her girlfriend was preparing breakfast there; smiling slightly to herself, the redhead got out of bed, taking the time to grab one of Pat's larger t-shirts and putting it on before she moved to the kitchen, finding her partner standing at the stove there, stirring eggs and ham in a frying pan, a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth.

"Make sure no ashes from that fall into the eggs", Willow advised, giggling when her girlfriend jumped slightly, her giggle stopping abruptly though when exactly that action caused what she just had warned the taller woman about; frowning, Pat looked at the ash which now dotted the ham and eggs, then up at her, anything she might have had to say clearly blown out of her mind as her eye widened briefly, but long enough to let the witch notice.

"Jeez, woman", the demon said before Willow had a chance to ask her what was going on, "do you have any idea how hot you look, wearing that shirt and nothing else?"

"Um, no?" the redhead gave back, her cheeks reddening slightly, "and for your information, I'm wearing panties, too."

"Well that's too bad, cause now that I saw you like this, I was planning to throw you on the kitchen table and have my way with you, but I can't do that if you're wearing panties", the black haired woman let her know with an air of regret, making her partner laugh once more while she shook her head and moved closer to her, wrapping her arms around her from behind and trying to peek past her so she could watch her tries to remove the ash from the food.

"You know", she said after a few moments of doing that in silence, "I said I'm wearing panties, not a chastity belt. You could tear them off all wild-like."

"An intriguing thought", Pat smirked, "but if you don't want me to set anything on fire, either with my own flames or by throwing you on that table after all and forgetting the pan right here, you better stop putting such images in my mind."

"Aw, the last time you sat anything on fire when you got those… special feelings was years ago", the witch gave back, smirking as well by now, "and you can just remove the pan before you do anything. No throwing of me though, please."

"You know I'd never literally throw you anywhere", the black haired woman reminded her of this not unimportant fact at once, "but, as much as I'd love to do that, are you sure that's a good idea? After what happened yesterday, maybe we should avoid that you get certain feelings until you did some more meditation."

"I was successfully repressing what happened yesterday, until now", Willow sighed in reply, pouting, "but you're right… We should avoid that. Mel's coming by today for more meditation, right?"

"Yes", Pat confirmed, "and believe me, I'm not happy about that either, but it's better to be safe than sorry. We don't want a repeat of yesterday."

"What exactly happened, anyway?" the witch wanted to know in reply, pushing any thoughts of tables and panties being ripped off aside, "I don't remember anything, as usual, and when I woke up in Giles' car, we were already here, so there was no time for Mel to tell me."

"Well, I don't know all the details, either", the demon shrugged, finally deciding that she had picked all the ash out of the food and concentrating on that again, "Dawn came running outside while Buffy and I were dealing with the vampire and told us the magic has taken over again, so I hurried back inside, Mel put some white magic inside me or something, and when the dark magic tried to leech from me again, it took that instead and was pushed back. At least that's how I understood it."

"Yeah", the redhead gave back, momentarily rubbing her temples as a memory stirred in the back of her mind, "I remember getting up to get us more drinks, cause yours was empty and so was mine, and then some guy… fell against me or something, and he must have ripped off the amulet…"

"Luckily, Xander found it", Pat smiled, "and apparently, Mel did some kind of memory wipe spell to the people at the Bronze, so no one remembers a thing. Long story short, nothing happened, I didn't even get any more grey hair this time."

"And I'm glad about that", Willow reassured her at once, "I would have felt really bad if you'd gotten drained again…"

"No drainage this time", the demon let her know, smiling, "and just to make sure all my batteries are full, we should have that breakfast I so lovingly prepared now. I think I got all the ash."

"I hope so", Willow grimaced, giggling when the taller woman gave her a look, then reminded her of the fact that it had been her fault the ash had been there in the first place, since she had made her jump; afterwards, the couple exchanged a quick, but tender kiss, then Pat took the pan off the stove and divided the food on two plates while the witch readied cutlery and cups for the coffee before they both sat down to have breakfast together, smiling at each other over the table, both of them glad that nothing all too dramatic had happened the evening before.

"Alright", Pat stated several hours later, checking her watch, "Mel should be here any minute now, so I'll go and won't be a distraction. I'll be at the Magic box this time, not the café, Anya got a delivery again and needs help."

"On a Sunday?" Willow wanted to know, surprised, making her partner smile slightly before she shook her head, then explained why the ex-demon needed her help on a Sunday. "She actually got it yesterday, but only told me at the Bronze at the evening, and since you'll be busy for at least two hours…"

"Good point", the witch smiled, "alright, go then, and try to talk her into giving me a discount again for your help."

"Of course", the demon smirked at once, "do you really think I'll haul all the heavy boxes she keeps ordering around for nothing?"

"Just making sure", Willow giggled, then got up from her seat on the couch and moved closer to the taller woman, taking firm hold of her shirt so she could pull her down, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss moments later.

"Take care while you're gone", she softly stated after they had pulled apart again, "you never know what might happen in Sunnydale."

"I'll be careful", Pat reassured her in reply, touched by her concern even though she couldn't really see a reason for it – it was true that one could never know in Sunnydale, but apart from the dark magic within Willow, the only other threats they had to deal with right now were vampires and more or less regular demons, and those mostly just came out at night, thus not really being a threat during the daylight hours.

"You take care too", she added after a moment instead of pointing this out, "and tell Mel to call me again the moment you're finished, alright?"

"Of course, Sweetie", the witch smiled up at her, "you know she always calls you when we're done, I don't even have to tell her anymore."

Having to admit that this was true, the black haired woman nodded her agreement, then bent down for yet another kiss; just when the couple pulled apart again, the doorbell rang, signalling Mel's arrival and at the same time acting as the cue for Pat to leave.

"See you later, then", the demon said, making her partner nod as well; they took the time to kiss briefly once more, then Pat finally made her way to the door and opened it to let Mel in, greeting her while she already put on her shoes and jacket.

"Be nice to my girl", she then added, "and see you soon."

"You know I'm always nice to her", the blonde smiled in reply, making the demon smirk and nod; she took one last glance at her partner, then finally left the apartment, lighting a cigarette the moment the door had closed behind her, humming softly to herself as she made her way to the stairwell and downstairs, leaving the apartment building just a few minutes later.

Even though she didn't really feel like going to the Magic Box and moving around heavy boxes there, she didn't dawdle on her way there, reminding herself of the discount she'd promised Willow to get for her and how happy it would make her partner; even after all the years they been together, she still loved it to do something that made her girlfriend's face light up with that special kind of smile she always got on her face whenever something really good happened.

By the time the Magic Box appeared in the distance, she could see that Anya was already waiting in front of the door, briefly making her wonder why she hadn't just gone inside; then, the ex-demon spotted her, as well, and waved enthusiastically, making her smirk slightly despite her lack of motivation to do the work waiting for her.

"There you are!" Anya greeted her the moment she was close enough to hear her, still hollering loud enough to make several other people on the sidewalks turn their heads and look at her, "I've been waiting forever! Was Mel late?"

"Yeah, kinda", Pat gave back, raising her voice as well, "sorry 'bout that. But hey, I'm here now, right?"

"Yes, thankfully", the ex-demon sighed out, digging out her key and unlocking the door, "let's not waste any more time, then."

"Yeah, let's not", the taller woman agreed, following her through the store to the door which led to the storage area, "but before I get started, let's talk about the discount you'll give Willow for this, alright?"

"Fifteen percent on her next purchase", Anya replied at once, clearly already having expected that, "and don't try to haggle!"

"Come on, you know me better than that", Pat smirked as an answer, making the brunette roll her eyes. "Twenty-five percent on her next purchase."

"Are you insane?" the ex-demon claimed to know, "I'm willing to go up to eighteen, and not one more!"

"Twenty-two and no less", the black haired woman kept up the haggling in reply, clearly not willing to accept this; huffing, Anya crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at her, looking slightly dismayed when Pat didn't appear all too impressed.

"Twenty", Anya tried to find an acceptable discount anyway, only to groan at the demon's immediate response. "Twenty for her next _two_ purchases here, then it's a deal."

"Fine!" the ex-demon nearly cried out, throwing her hands up, "God! You're impossible!"

"I learned from you", Pat shrugged, smirking; Anya huffed once more and glared at her, then led her into the storage area so they could get started with the work, still grumbling and mumbling about being ripped off, giving her best to ignore the demon's obvious amusement about her dismay.

* * *

Two hours later, long after the last boxes had been moved, Pat was sitting at the table normally used for Scoobie meetings, drinking coffee and reading the book she had brought along; figuring that Mel would call any minute now, Anya didn't bother throwing her out so she could close up the shop again, doing some long overdue paperwork instead.

For another thirty minutes, she kept herself busy with that, the only sounds being the noises she was making as she shuffled through her papers and the soft noise of Pat turning a page in more or less regular intervals; then, Anya checked her watch and frowned, looking at the demon afterwards.

"Shouldn't they be done by now?" she wanted to know, prompting Pat to look at her before she frowned and checked her watch, her frown deepening when she saw that the usual two hours had passed without a call from Mel.

"I guess so", she then had to admit, "but maybe it's taking longer this time, who knows. I for sure don't, I know next to nothing about all that magic stuff."

"You really should learn", Anya gave back, shrugging when the demon raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" she then went on. "What with your girlfriend being such a powerful witch and everything, you should take an interest in that."

"Well, I learned a few things since we got together", Pat defended herself, not even sure why she was doing so, after all, she didn't really need to justify herself to the ex-demon, "but maybe I just lack the talent or something, cause I can barely ever remember all the words and stuff. The only spell I can do for sure is the one that lets people borrow my healing."

"At least that's a useful spell", Anya shrugged, then dropped the topic as she continued, making the demon smirk slightly. "And I really don't want to kick you out, but we're done here and so is my paperwork, so…"

"No problem", the taller woman reassured her, getting up from her seat, "and you're not kicking me out. I bet she'll call any minute now anyway…"

"Alright then", Anya smiled, clearly relieved that she hadn't offended the black haired woman with her thinly veiled request, "and say Hi to Willow and Mel for me, will you?"

"Of course", Pat reassured her, then made her way to the front door of the store; there, she had to wait for Anya to unlock it for her, and once this had been done, she stepped outside, waiting for her phone to start blaring out one of her favourite guitar riffs in her pocket while she started to walk back to the apartment building.

To her dismay, the phone remained quiet though, briefly making her unsure of what to do next when she arrived at the building; after checking her watch once more, she saw that by now, almost three hours had passed, and after quick consideration, the demon decided to have one coffee in the café she had visited so frequently before she'd go upstairs and check on the two, telling herself that she could sneak into the apartment without being noticed and thus wouldn't disturb them – she had been an assassin for roughly two centuries, after all.

By now, she'd been at the café so often that the waiter recognized her at once – not that it was hard to forget her quickly, she wryly thought to herself, after all, even in Sunnydale, a one-eyed woman with by now three colours in her hair was quite the sight – and called out a greeting, then asked her if she'd have the usual; nodding at him, Pat quickly found an empty booth and sat down there, trying to concentrate on her book again as she waited for both the coffee and her phone to ring.

Even though she gave her best not to worry, she found herself growing more and more uneasy with every minute that passed, by now convinced that something had gone horribly wrong; still, she forced herself to drink the coffee at normal speed once it had been served to her, not wanting to gulp it down, telling herself that surely, there was a reason for the delay of Mel's call.

_Maybe it takes longer because the dark magic took over yesterday, _she tried to reason with herself, _there's surely nothing to worry about, you know Mel knows what she's doing, everything's fine…_

Convincing herself of this worked until her cup had been emptied – just a tad faster than usual, at least, this she had managed – then she decided that she had waited long enough and that it was time to check on her partner, telling herself that it had been almost four hours now and that something had to be going on if it took the two witches twice as long as usual to finish.

Calling out her goodbye to the waiter, Pat thus hurried out of the café and across the street to the apartment building; quickly, she unlocked the front door and entered, not even bothering with waiting for the elevator, but taking the stairs, almost running up, now not able to keep her worry down any longer. Still she forced herself to slow down as she reached the second floor, not wanting to go thundering down the hallway and maybe interrupt something; as quietly as possible, she unlocked the apartment door, then sneaked inside, closing it just as silently as she had opened it.

For a moment, she stood as still as a statue, listening for any sounds that might indicate trouble; what she did hear made her frown slightly to herself, and for a moment, she wondered if she had imagined it, after all, it had been quite the soft sound… Then, it reached her ears again, a low moan she immediately recognized as coming from Willow, her heart hammering up to her throat as various unpleasant scenarios which might have caused such a sound came up in front of her inner eye. Still, despite her worries, she gave her best to remain quiet as she moved down the hallway and to the living room; to her surprise, she found it empty, but before she could start looking, the moan came yet again, and once more, her heartbeat tripled when she realized that it was coming from the bedroom.

_The side effects must be really bad this time if Mel even forgot to call me, _she thought to herself as she made her way to the door, _I have to remember to scold… _She pushed the door open and all her thoughts stopped as she froze on the spot, unable to comprehend the scene in front of her. When she had heard the moan, she hadn't thought for a single second that it could be a sign for anything else than discomfort; only now, she realized that it was exactly the sound Willow most often made during their times of intimacy, a noise she never would have thought anyone else could get from her, not as long as they were together.

"What the…" she croaked, then fell silent as she realized how her voice sounded – as if someone had suckerpunched her and knocked all the air out of her lungs, something which wasn't surprising to her, though, after all, finding her girlfriend in bed with Mel, clearly doing something which had nothing to do with meditation and which she only should be doing with her felt quite much like just that.

Even though her voice hadn't been all too loud or clear, it apparently had been heard by the two women kissing deeply on the bed, since they jumped apart as if someone had struck them; and after a second, Willow also looked as if just that had happened, her eyes widening while her face paled drastically.

"Oh my God", she brought out, her voice trembling, "Pat… oh my God, this isn't… let me…"

"Don't", the demon interrupted her hoarsely, not sure which of the emotions running through her was the strongest – there was anger, disappointment, sadness and the kind of pain she only had felt before once, when she had thought that Willow had died after throwing herself into a chasm with a possessed Amy to save them all.

"Don't even try to explain", she added, fighting down the anger to keep herself from just rushing to the bed and breaking Mel's neck, smoke rising from her tightly clenched fists nonetheless despite her best attempts, "that'd insult my intelligence. And your own."

"But… it's not what you think…" Willow started, nearly flinching back when her partner's good eye narrowed and even briefly flashed up red; for a few moments, the two stared at each other while Mel sat up and nonchalantly ran one hand through her tousled hair, the demon starting to growl lowly in the back of her throat when the movement exposed her neck and something which only could be a hickey on the skin there.

"Pat, please", the redhead started again, trying to sort her jumbled thoughts into a coherent fashion so she could try and explain, "just… give me a minute…"

In response, the taller woman just shook her head, not sure what might come out of her mouth if she'd try to say anything; she took another look at her partner, then, without another word, turned and left, ignoring it when Willow desperately called out her name, the sound of the apartment door slamming shut hard enough to make it shake in the frame being the only answer the witch got.


	15. Chapter 15

When Pat had come to her after the dark magic had taken her partner over and had drained her, Buffy had thought to herself that the demon had aged fifteen years in the span of a day; she had been sure that, once Pat would have recovered from the ordeal, she'd never see her like this again, and even more convinced that she'd never see her in an even worse state.

Thus, she was shocked when she opened the door to the frantic knocking and found herself looking up at the demon; the fact that this time, her Slayer sense hadn't tingled either, made the shock even bigger as she stared at her friend, noticed how out of breath she was – as if she had been running all the way from wherever she came to the Summers house – and how pale her face was. With a second of delay, Buffy also saw the pain in the taller woman's good eye, mixed with something that almost could have been despair; before she could say or ask anything though, Pat already had started to talk, even though the way she stammered made it impossible for the blonde to figure out what was going on.

"Okay, slow down", she finally managed to get in a few words, after all she had been able to make out from the stuff Pat had been saying that something had happened to Willow, highly concerned by now, but giving her best to hide it, not wanting to upset the taller woman even more, "and come in, whatever happened surely shouldn't be talked about on the doorstep…"

Running both hands through her hair, Pat made her way inside in reply, taking in a few deep breaths as she tried to calm down; she nearly jumped when Buffy touched her back, then let it happen that the blonde led her to the living room, dropping down on the couch heavily when she was asked to sit down.

"Okay", Buffy stated, taking a seat as well and looking at her, her worry now showing through her eyes despite her attempts to keep it down, "now tell me what happened."

"Willow", Pat gave back, nervously patting her pockets until she found her cigarettes, the Slayer not stopping her when she lit one up – normally, she wouldn't let her smoke in the house, but normally, she also didn't look so upset and so deeply hurt.

"It took them much longer to finish this time", the demon went on after taking a long drag, "so I went and checked on them, and… they were doing it! In our bed, Buffy!"

"What?!" Buffy cried out, her eyes widening with shock, "are you kidding me?!"

"You think I'd kid about something like that?" the demon snapped in reply, then briefly squeezed her eye shut as she fought to regain some control over herself, sounding just a tiny bit calmer when she continued. "And then Willow actually had the nerve to tell me that it's not what it looked like and all that shit. I can't believe this. I wonder how long it has been going on…" Her voice cracked at the last words, and within the blink of an eye, Buffy was by her side, pulling her into a hug and holding her; for a few moments, the taller woman stiffened, almost wanting to pull back, then gave up and just slumped into the embrace, a shaky, watery breath escaping her.

"I can't believe she did this to me", she then repeated, looking up at the blonde with so much pain and disappointment and hurt in her gaze that it made Buffy's heart clench up, "I never would have thought she…"

"Me neither", Buffy gave back, then suddenly lit up, giving her friend a hopeful look, "but maybe it really wasn't what it looked like, I mean, isn't that…"

"No", Pat interrupted her, taking another long drag of her cigarette afterwards, once more glad that by now, her coughing had subsided again, "it was pretty obvious. They were in the bedroom, in the bed, _our_ bed, and they were having sex. Willow even… I heard her moan when I entered the apartment and thought she's hurt… And they were kissing…"

Her voice cracked again, and she fell silent, swallowing heavily; not sure what she could reply to this, Buffy just kept holding her, only to jump moments later when the doorbell rang, the frantic ranging making it pretty obvious who was there now.

"I guess that's Willow", she carefully said, not sure how the demon might react, "so, um, if she asks if you're here…"

"You can tell her I am", Pat muttered after a moment of thinking about this, "but I really don't wanna talk to her right now…"

Nodding, Buffy gave her a concerned look, pulling back from the embrace while the doorbell continued to ring; still, she took the time to awkwardly, but hopefully reassuringly pat the taller woman's back, then finally made her way to the door, not surprised to find Willow standing in front of it, looking dishevelled and out of breath, probably making her the second person who had ran to the house that day.

"Pat", she panted out, fighting hard to catch her breath, "is she…?"

"She's here", Buffy confirmed, "but… I don't think she wants to talk to you right now… Willow, what happened?"

"I'm not even sure!" the witch cried out in reply, briefly trying to look past the Slayer to see if she could spot her partner, wondering if the demon was close enough to hear her, not having an idea that she in fact was, "we were meditating, and it was tiring like always, and… I don't know, and suddenly I was in bed with Mel and we were kissing and then Pat was there…"

"Jeez", Buffy sighed out as an answer, not sure what else she could reply, "that's… really messed up."

"I know!" Willow cried out, her eyes now glistening suspiciously, "but I never wanted this to happen, I swear! Buffy you know me, you know I'd never cheat on someone, it's just…"

"Um, well", the Slayer gave back, choosing her next words carefully, "never isn't quite right, is it…?"

"Oh come on", the redhead gave back, not able to believe her ears, "you're not going to bring this up now, are you? That was years ago! We were in High School!"

"Yeah, I know, sorry", Buffy sighed, "that was uncalled for. But… Willow, you have to understand her, too, I mean, walking in on something like that…"

"I know!" the witch cried out once more, running both hands through her hair in distraught, mimicking her partner without even being aware of it, "but if she'd just talk to me, then I could try to explain… Buffy, I swear I don't even remember anything until she suddenly was there…"

"Give her some time", the blonde gave back after a moment, "she needs to calm down, I'm sure she'll be willing to listen then…"

"Yeah, I don't think taking your advice on this is a good idea", Willow mumbled in reply, shrugging at the disbelieving look her best friend shot her as an answer.

"Well", she then tried to clarify, "your track record's not all too good, is it? Should we take a look at your past boyfriends? So, if I listen to you, I might just end up losing her, like you lost all of your men!"

"When did this turn from you cheating into a discussion of my love life?" Buffy wanted to know, incredulous, "and, well, about losing her, you wouldn't have to face that possibility if you hadn't cheated on her in the first place!"

"I told you, I don't even remember!" the witch snapped in reply, going from sad and upset to angry within the blink of an eye, to Buffy's astonishment, "and if she'd just come here and listen… Pat!" she suddenly raised her voice, so unexpected that it made the Slayer jump, "Pat! I know you're here, come here and talk to me, please!"

"I think you should go now", Buffy said before her best friend could try to call out for her girlfriend again – or maybe attempt something even more drastic, like pushing past her to look for the demon, "she'll talk to you when she's ready, give her time."

In response, Willow just stared at her for a few more moments, as if she was wondering about saying yet another nasty thing about her past relationships – before she just shook her head and, without another word, turned and walked off, Buffy looking after her for a few moments before she let out a sigh and closed the door, then briefly leaned against it, asking herself how they all had ended up in this mess and how they were supposed to resolve it.


	16. Chapter 16

On the way back home, Willow didn't run, but walked quite slow, her gaze focused on the sidewalk beneath her feet as her mind was racing, trying to figure out how she had gotten herself into this mess and how she could make it all just go back to how things had been before this strange situation with Mel had happened. She had meant it when she had told Buffy that she couldn't remember anything about how they had ended up in the bedroom; the last thing that was clear in her memories was how she had started to feel as drained and tired a she always had close to the endings of the meditation sessions, and then the next thing she could recall was Pat standing in the doorway of their bedroom, looking as if her heart had been ripped out.

"Well, that's pretty much how she must have felt", she mumbled to herself, still not able to believe that this had happened; it all seemed so unreal to her, but the way Buffy had reacted had been more than enough proof to convince her that she wasn't stuck in some kind of overly long nightmare right now. Still, with every moment that passed, she found it harder to believe that she really had done this; after all, she knew exactly how it felt to have something like that happen to oneself, grimacing to herself as she thought of the time she had found Oz and Veruca in the cage together, how deeply it had hurt her to see the man she had loved back then with someone else.

Shaking her head slightly to get those images out of her mind, Willow momentarily clenched her fists as she told herself that Mel would have some explaining to do; maybe, if the blonde witch would be able to tell her what had happened, she could explain to Pat as soon as the demon would be willing to listen to her, and everything would be fine again…

"Willow!" the familiar voice tore her out of her musings, making her look up from the ground and at Mel as the witch came hurrying closer to her, "there you are! I was so worried when you just ran off!"

"I didn't just run off", the redhead gave back, momentarily filled with disbelief at the nerve this woman was displaying now, "I ran after my girlfriend, on whom I somehow cheated with you! What happened? How did that happen? Tell me!"

Coming to a halt in front of her, Mel raised both eyebrows, then frowned, sounding just disappointed enough to let Willow notice when she replied. "What do you mean, you ran after your girlfriend? I thought… you and me… from now on…?"

"What?" Willow nearly squeaked, her eyes doubling in size, "no! I mean, no offense or anything, but… I don't even remember how we ended up in bed together!"

"You don't?" Mel frowned, now looking hurt, "I would have thought you do… seeing that you started it."

At hearing this, the redhead's mouth practically fell open, and for a few moments, all she could do was stare at the other witch; then, she shook her head as if to clear it, squeezing her eyes shut momentarily as she tried to regain some control.

"I don't even remember", she then told her, not sure if this was a wise thing to do, figuring that it would hurt the blonde's feelings and that most likely, none of this was her fault, "I just remember us doing the meditation, and then suddenly we were in bed and… Pat was there…"

"Well, during the meditation, you suddenly kissed me", Mel gave back in reply, "and I have to admit, I wasn't exactly unhappy, but I told you we shouldn't, your girlfriend and everything, but you insisted, so I just… went along with it…"

"This is messed up", Willow groaned, shaking her head once more, her eyes widening again when she saw Mel's face fall. "I'm sorry", she quickly went on, scolding herself for being so careless about the other witch's feelings, "you're really nice and everything, and, well, attractive too, but… I'm not in love with you…"

"I know, you love the demon", Mel sighed out in reply, "or at least you think so. Why would you make such a move on me if your relationship with her is so perfect?"

"I told you, I don't even remember", Willow gave back, momentarily irritated; she hated to admit it, but it seemed as if the witch was making a good point, even though she couldn't come up with a single reason why she would have made such a move on her.

_I'm not even attracted to her! _she thought to herself as she stared at her, trying to figure out how to reply, _so why would I… and how do I know she's telling me the truth? But why would she lie to me? _

"Come on", Mel now said, apparently not noticing anything about Willow's inner turmoil, "just give this a chance… I doubt your demon would want to get back with you anyway, she looked pretty pissed when she walked in on us. And just think of the things we could accomplish together, with our combined magic…"

While she had been talking, the blonde had been moving closer and closer to the witch, now smiling slightly again; and before Willow could say something in reply, Mel suddenly was pressed up to her and kissing her deeply, stunning her so much that for a few moments, she couldn't even react. Then, she regained her senses at last, placing both hands on the smaller woman's shoulders and pushing her back gently, but firmly, giving her an apologetic look when their eyes met moments later.

"I'm sorry", she then said, not able to keep the slight tremble out of her voice, knowing how it felt to be rejected, "but… it's nothing against you, you're a nice girl and everything, but I'm not in love with you, I love her…"

"I know", Mel sighed out after a moment, then suddenly smiled, a slightly unsettling smile that made the redhead frown as she asked herself what was happening now, "but it was worth a try. Would have made things easier."

"What are you talking about?" Willow wanted to know, suddenly feeling uneasy about the whole situation; glancing left and right, her uneasiness only grew when she realized that she was alone on the sidewalk with the other witch, the feeling that something here was deeply wrong suddenly so strong that it almost overwhelmed her.

"You'll see soon enough", Mel gave back, her smile widening slightly and managing to look even more unsettling, "but for now, I'm afraid you'll have to… take the backseat."

And with those words, before Willow had a chance to react, the other witch's hand shot up to her neck; there was an audible snap as the thin gold necklace was torn, and then the amulet was gone, the redhead just having the time for her eyes to widen before darkness started to blot out her vision, a breathless cry escaping her as she slumped down to her knees, feeling the dark magic within her struggling to take control.

"No", she pressed out helplessly, "Mel, please… Give it back... You don't know what you're allowing to happen!"

"Oh, I know very well", the other witch replied, unimpressed, "and in the long run, there is nothing you can do to stop me. Us. Just let it happen now, let it take over…"

With those words, the blonde knelt down next to the by now heavily panting Willow, smiling sinisterly as she reached out with two fingers and touched the redhead's chest, right on the spot where the amulet had been resting before it had been removed; sharp pain ran through the witch's body as she cried out, then the darkness took over and all she once more was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: I'll be off to England from tomorrow on, where I won't have access to my computer, so there won't be any updates until I get back. I'll update again after my return on Saturday :)

* * *

"She didn't answer again", Buffy sighed out as she threw the phone back on the living room table, grimacing when it landed there with an audible thump and obviously more force than she had intended to, "I'm really getting worried now…"

"Yeah, me too", Pat muttered, giving the phone an evil look before she glanced up at the blonde again, "you'd think she'd want to talk after what happened. She said she did, right?"

"Yes", Buffy confirmed, "she was pretty desperate to talk to you… and she said she doesn't remember anything about ending up in the bedroom with Mel."

"This is so weird", the demon sighed out, rubbing her temples as if to ward off a headache, "all of it. How could she not remember that?"

"I don't know", Buffy shrugged helplessly, an answer she was giving the demon for the ninth or tenth time, neither of them able to figure out what exactly was going on, "but, as you said, all of that is so weird. I mean, we never ever noticed anything about the two… I dunno, having a thing for each other, and suddenly they're in bed together? That's not really like Willow."

"Not at all", Pat had to admit, something she could do a bit easier now that the initial anger and disappointment at the betrayal had started to recede a bit; her heart still clenched up every time the images of Willow and Mel in bed together came up in her mind, but thanks to Buffy, her cigarettes and some whiskey the Slayer had found in one of the living room cabinets, she at least could think clearly enough to realize that what Buffy was saying was true.

"Maybe it was the dark magic or something", Buffy pondered out loud in reply, "but then, why would Mel go along with it?"

"I wish I knew more about this whole magic stuff", Pat sighed out, looking dismayed for a moment – before a thought hit her and she brightened, her next words making the Slayer nod enthusiastically, as well. "Well, I don't, but Giles does, maybe we should call him."

"That's the best idea any of us has had so far about this", Buffy agreed at once, picking her phone up once more, "let's see what he'll have to say."

Nodding, Pat shifted on her seat nervously as she watched how the blonde dialled Giles' number; even though she was still upset and hurt about what Willow had done, she now started to hope that maybe, it could all be explained by something supernatural, something the witch hadn't been able to control and thus wasn't to blame for. Deep inside, she knew that even if that would be the case, it wouldn't take the pain away, at least not completely; but still, it'd be easier to handle the betrayal as if it would have been, had the redhead done it completely out of her own free will.

"Hm, weird", Buffy mumbled next to her, distracting her from her thoughts, "he's not answering. Maybe he went out, wait, I'll try his cell…"

Again, Pat nodded, lighting up another cigarette while the blonde found Giles' cell phone number in the phone's directory, then pushed the button that called said number; she held the phone to her ear again, then frowned after half a minute, looking at the demon with worry while she ended the call and explained the reason for the expression on her face. "It went to voicemail… That's odd, he always makes sure it's charged and takes it along whenever he goes out, in case something happens."

"Maybe something did happen", Pat hazarded in reply, taking another drag of her cigarette before she spoke on. "Maybe you should check on him, and I'll go check out the apartment, I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."

"Me too", Buffy nodded, "and good plan. I'll call Anya and tell her to keep an eye out for Willow and Mel, in case one of them or both show up at the Magic Box, call me when you find anything at your place, alright?"

Nodding for a third time, the demon came to her feet, glad that now, she had something to do and wasn't forced to sit around in Buffy's place any longer, brooding over what had happened; she still took the time to tell Buffy that she should take care and that she should call her the moment she found anything out, then the two parted ways, with the demon heading for her own home while Buffy made her way to Giles, both of them now sure that something much bigger than they at first had thought was going on.

* * *

Willow didn't know how long she had been "on the backseat", as Mel had put it, but by the time she came back around, she realized it had been long enough for the blonde witch to take her to some sort of abandoned warehouse; groaning slightly at the pounding in her head, she looked around, finding herself standing in what appeared to be some sort of magic circle made with jet black powder, the sight prompting her to frown as she tried to figure out what it was supposed to do.

Looking around, she realized that she apparently was alone; Mel was nowhere to be seen, and when tentatively called out, the only answer she got was the echo of her own voice, making her smile to herself after a moment – after all, it seemed as if the blonde witch had made a mistake about calculating how long the dark magic would be able to hold up control, thus giving her a perfect option to just leave now, head back to her friends and her girlfriend and tell them everything.

With that plan settling her mind, the redhead started to head for the door she could see at the far end of the warehouse; the moment she tried to step out of the circle though, she ran into the invisible barrier said circle had put up around her, a surprised yelp coming from her at the unexpected resistance.

"Alright, so that's what the powder is for", she then mumbled to herself, glad that at least, the barrier wasn't inflicting pain on her when she made contact with it; holding her hands up so she wouldn't bump against it once more, she moved closer to the circle again, her palms soon meeting the unsettlingly unyielding resistance. Telling herself to keep her calm, and reminding herself of the fact that so far, she never had heard of a magical barrier that couldn't be broken sooner or later, she closed her eyes and started to breathe deeply, trying to get some focus; just when she thought though that she might try dismantling the barrier now, the door at the other end of the warehouse opened, creaking loud enough to startle her and make her lose the concentration she just had managed to build up.

"Save your energy", Mel stated as she walked closer to the circle, smiling pleasantly, "that barrier can only be broken with dark magic, and the moment you try to use that, you'll be on the backseat again."

"What is going on here?" Willow demanded to know in reply, giving her best to sound fierce and angry, and to hide how freaked out she was by all of this, "why did you take me here, what do you want?"

"I want to team up with you", Mel replied at once, her smile widening a bit, "or, better said, my small coven and me wants to team up with you. You have no idea of the powers you can wield, Willow, and we can teach you…"

"I don't think I want to learn anything from you", the witch gave back, crossing her arms over her chest, "and what coven are you talking about, anyway? There's just you here right now."

"They're on their way", the blonde replied, unimpressed by Willow's anger, "it's up to me to convince you to work with us until they arrive here."

"Well, you won't have any luck with that", Willow scowled, glaring at the other witch, "why should I start working with you? Clearly, you have no intentions of doing good things with your power, seeing you're holding me captive here with black magic!"

"We are all you'll have left though", Mel replied, still not seeming all too impressed, the casual way with which she said those painful words causing the redhead's anger to poof away within seconds, leaving her unable to do anything else than stare at the blonde.

"You know I'm right", Mel continued when Willow didn't say anything, her voice taking on a strangely hypnotic sound, "your girlfriend won't take another look at you after you slept with me, and thanks to that, your friends will treat you with disdain, as well, won't they? They think they have the moral high ground now. Even if they'll still be your friends, they'll always act differently around you from now on, and you'll notice. Here, with us, you'll be treated the way you deserve it… you'll be our queen, and we'll be your loyal servants. Don't you want that?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Willow shook her head, giving her best to not let the other witch get to her, telling herself that what she was saying about her friends wasn't true, that they'd all forgive her once she'd been able to explain – maybe even Pat would, and they'd be able to go back to how things had been before this whole mess.

"You're not right", she pressed out between grit teeth, momentarily asking herself if Mel had used some magic along with her words to convince her, her words just had sounded so right, "they wouldn't treat me any different... They'll understand it wasn't my fault…"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that", Mel shrugged, smiling sweetly at her again, "just remember how Buffy looked at you when she opened the door… and your precious demon wouldn't even speak to you. She's probably leaving Sunnydale as we speak, not much sense for her to hang around anymore now that the two of you are over, right?"

"No", Willow declined at once, shaking her head for emphasis, "she wouldn't just leave, she'd…"

"She'd what?" Mel asked, still with that strangely sweet, hypnotic sound in her voice, "stay and try to work things through with you? Haven't you seen the look on her face when she walked in on us? There'll be no working through anything, Willow. Believe me, we're all you have left, and you won't regret if you'll side with us."

"No", the redhead repeated, giving her best to ignore the pain the blonde's words where causing within her, telling herself that she wasn't right, that Pat wouldn't just leave without giving her a chance to explain. Then, she remembered what the demon had said to her before she had stormed out of the apartment, how she shouldn't even try to explain; and along with that memory came the one of the look the taller woman had had on her face when she had seen Mel and her, that expression of utter betrayal and disbelief and pain.

"You realize it now, do you?" Mel spoke up again, her voice now soft and kind and caring, "you realize that I'm right. She's gone, and she won't be back. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even love you anymore. I mean, I could practically hear her heart break when she caught us."

She moved even closer to the circle, then stepped through the barrier without the slightest sign of trouble, holding Willow's gaze as she continued, reaching out and taking both the witch's hands into hers as she spoke.

"You have no idea how powerful you are", she repeated, squeezing her hands tenderly, "of the things you'll be able to do. And you won't have to take the backseat ever again, I promise, we'll teach you how to use the dark magic, how to control it, without letting it control you."

Feeling oddly dazed, Willow just held her gaze in reply, trying to work out why her mind appeared to be so clouded all at once; before she could work through this, and figure out a reply though, the door at the other end of the large hall opened once more, and several hooded figures entered, moving closer to the circle slowly, in perfect single file.

"There they are", Mel smiled, letting go of the redhead's hands and stepping out of the circle again, "and about time, too. You are late, guys."

"Sorry", one of them replied as they started to form a circle around the one Willow was still caught in, "traffic was hellish."

Even though it wasn't a funny situation at all, the redhead found herself snorting at hearing those words; Mel briefly looked at her and smiled, then moved to the empty spot in the circle, giving the other witch a chance to look at them all. Thanks to the floor-length robes and the hoods they all were wearing, it was impossible for her to figure out anything about them though; the one who had made the comment about traffic was clearly female, as the voice had shown, but apart from that, all Willow could see were six shapeless bodies, possible curves and features hidden by the robes, along with an eye here and a lower jaw there beneath the hoods they all had pulled deep into their faces.

"Well, now that we are all here", Mel smiled as soon as Willow had finished looking around and was focusing on her again, "what's your answer, Willow? Will you side with us? It will be better than anything you could ever imagine, I promise."

"Listen to her", another of the robed figures threw in, the deep voice identifying him as male, "side with us, and you'll get everything you've ever imagined, and more. We're all your loyal subjects…" With the last words, he sank down to his knees; the rest of the group followed after a moment, leaving only Mel standing, the blonde smiling and nodding, then spreading her arms as if to point out the group of kneeling people, just to make sure Willow wouldn't miss it.

"Look at this", she said after giving the redhead a moment to take in the sight of people kneeling to her, because of her, "and if you decide to side with us, this is just the beginning. Sooner or later, the world will kneel to you… Tell me you wouldn't like that, and I'll call you a liar."

Lowering her arms again, she moved closer to the circle of powder once more, smiling sweetly again, her voice once more taking on the hypnotic sound as she continued, holding the redhead's gaze and somehow making it impossible for her to look away.

"Do it", Mel imploringly said, "tell me that you'll side with us. Just say one word, say Yes, and we'll show you a life you never could have imagined… You'll rule the world with us…"

Feeling oddly dazed again, Willow looked from her to the circle of kneeling people, trying to figure out how much of this was honest and how much was deception to make her give in to their pleas of joining them; then, her eyes met Mel's again, and suddenly, all concern was gone as the blonde witch smiled at her, her mind filled with the conviction that this was what she had to do, that she could lead this group and use them to make the world a better place, not even noticing how the blonde's dark powers worked themselves deeper and deeper into her mind.

Taking in a deep breath, she opened her mouth to give the answer Mel wanted to hear; and that was when two of the kneelers suddenly came to their feet again, one of them significantly taller than the other, and right in that moment, everything Mel had managed to put into Willow's mind was blown away as she realized who those two were.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: I got back in one piece! England was amazing and I got so much new stuff. So let's not talk about how much I spent there… and let's have an update instead! :D

* * *

"Yeah, I don't think we can let that happen", the smaller of the two said as they threw their hoods back in perfect unison, then shrugged out of the robes and made them fall to the floor behind them, pulling off quite the impressive entrance, "the world's better off if it's not ruled by a bunch of black magic users."

"What the Hell are you doing here!" Mel shrieked in reply while around her, the other members of her little coven scrambled to their feet, letting out various noises of surprise and shock, making both Buffy and Pat smirk at her while all Willow could do was stare, her heart nearly bursting with joy at the sight of both her girlfriend and her best friend, having come to her rescue despite everything that had happened.

"We're stopping you", the demon now told Mel, "there'll be no ruling of anything, and if you don't want me to rip off your limbs one by one, you'll take down that barrier now."

"So you come here, make a big entrance, and just expect me to agree to whatever you say?" the blonde witch sneered in reply, her followers finally all having managed to get up and forming a little cluster behind her, "not in this life, demon. Frankly, I'm surprised you even bothered to come here, seeing what your precious Willow over there did to you."

"Don't listen to her", Buffy threw in before Willow had a chance to say anything to that, "it's what Giles warned us about, the influencing thing…"

"I know", Pat gave back, drawing the sword from the sheath on her belt, making Buffy do the same with her weapon, "I'm not planning to listen to her."

Snarling, Mel glared at the two, clenching her fists while behind her, Willow snapped out of the trance the blonde had put her in enough at last to move to the barrier again, placing her hands against it, her mind running wild as she tried once more to figure out how to break it, well aware of the fact that any moment, the fighting would start and that her partner and her best friend might need some help of the magical kind soon.

"Fine", Mel pressed out between grit teeth, all smiles and kindness gone now, "we'll do it the hard way then… Kill them, now!" At her last words, her followers seemed to grow a bit more backbone than they had shown so far, all of them letting out a variety of snarls and growls as they raised their hands; before any of them could do more than that though, Buffy and Pat had started to move in perfect unison, the demon slamming the handle of her sword against the head of one of the hooded minions while Buffy simply punched out another one, effectively reducing the number of their foes from five to three.

Moving back from her remaining helpers, Mel started to mutter under her breath; when Willow recognized the words, her eyes went wide, and she hurriedly called out to her rescuers, momentarily distracting them from their hand-to-hand combat with the two remaining hooded minions. "Be careful, she's summoning some kind of demon!"

"Oh great", Pat muttered, effortlessly ducking the clumsy punch the robed man in front of her was throwing at her and then kicking his legs out from beneath him and making him fall, landing yet another kick moments later and sending him off to join his friends in dreamland, "would have been too easy otherwise, huh?" With those words, she raised her sword and started moving towards the still muttering Mel; before she reached her though, the blonde finished the spell and threw her arms up, and moments later, with a loud banging sound and a cloud of black, horribly smelling smoke, a shockingly large demon appeared between Pat and her, taller even than the black haired woman, with long, muscular arms and legs, the fingers and toes ending in unsettlingly sharp and big talons, a scaled tail swishing over the floor as the bright black eyes focused on Pat and the demon let out a snarl, baring sharp and long teeth in the process.

"Charming", Pat muttered while Mel stepped back again, putting more distance between her summoned demon and herself; she watched how the black haired woman took a swing at the demon with her weapon, a smile forming on her face again when the taller demon easily caught her arm mid-swing, giving her just enough time to let her look surprised – before he flung her aside, the grunt she let out as she hit the floor several feet away mixing with the cry that escaped Willow at the sight.

Snarling, Pat came to her feet again, just in time to let her duck the demon's claws as he swiped at her; momentarily torn between helping her and taking on Mel, Buffy watched for a moment longer how the black haired woman sliced at the demon once more, then settled for her second option and rushed at the blonde witch, only to end up thrown back when Mel reacted immediately and brought up her hand, using the kind of energy blast spell against her she had seen Willow use a thousand times by now.

"Buffy!" the redhead cried out, slamming both hands against the barrier in frustration, making Mel look at her with a nasty smile on her face; then, a loud crash echoed through the warehouse, making them both look into direction it had come from, both of them realizing that the demon Mel had summoned had managed to gain the upper hand once more and had thrown Pat halfway through the warehouse, sending her right through the glass window of the only separate room in the large hall, some sort of box which most likely had been used as an office when the warehouse had still been active.

"Seems like your girl bit off more than she can chew when she took on my demon friend", Mel commented, smiling at Willow, "I wonder if you'll go dark once she—" Buffy's fist hitting her from the side cut her off mid-sentence, and she got thrown back, stumbling, but managing to catch herself in the last moment, the redhead not unable to keep a smile off her face at the sight, said smile widening at what her best friend told the blonde witch a moment later.

"You bit off more than you can chew, as well", Buffy stated, bringing up her fists again, having lost her sword when Mel's spell had hit her and had sent her flying; snarling, Mel reached up to her lips and wiped off the blood that had started to trickle down her chin from there, her eyes narrowing when she saw the streak of red on the back of her hand.

"No one makes me bleed", she then spat, raising her hand again; purple mist started to swirl around her fingers, the sight making Willow cry out a warning to her best friend – she never had used that kind of spell, not even when she had been evil, but she had read about it and had taken up the knowledge about it when she had absorbed all the dark magic and knew what it could do.

"Buffy look out!" she thus yelled, "don't let that hit you!" Briefly, the Slayer glanced at her, then nodded; and moments later, Mel fired, a swirling ball of purple energy rushing towards Buffy, the blonde diving out of the way in the last moment, the concrete floor hissing and melting when the energy hit it instead of the intended target.

"Wow", Buffy commented, "now that's what I call fighting dirty." In response, Mel snarled again, then threw yet another ball of purple energy at her; she dived out of the way again, ending up close to her sword this time, quickly snatching it up.

"You think you can defeat me with this?" Mel shrieked, by now looking majorly unstable, the purple energy swirling and crackling all around her, "you won't even get close enough to scratch me!"

"I don't have to", Buffy coldly replied, having thrown all concerns about killing her, and thus another human being, overboard when she had seen what the spell had done to the concrete floor where it had hit; and before Mel could do anything else than look puzzled, Buffy had brought up the sword and had thrown it, the blade embedding itself deep in the blonde's chest seconds later. With her eyes widening, Mel looked down on the handle of the sword protruding from her chest; her hand trembled visibly as she reached up to touch it, then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell over backwards, the sword being partly pushed out of her body again when she hit the concrete floor and remained there motionless, a puddle of blood slowly spreading around her as she died.

The moment her life ended, the barrier she had put up vanished as well, nearly causing Willow to stumble and fall flat on her face since she had been leaning against it with both hands, still trying to figure out how to undo it; she caught herself in the last moment, looking from the dead Mel up at Buffy, relieved about how fast the Slayer had resolved the situation in the end.

"Good throw", she complimented her best friend, suddenly feeling nervous, not sure if she should make any comment about the events which had happened before the whole fight here, then settling on simple gratitude, figuring that they could all talk about the rest later, "and… thanks for coming…"

"Of course", the Slayer responded at once, smiling at her, making it clear that there were no hard feelings, "but let's talk later, now, we'll need to get rid of that demon, unless Pat already—" Before she could finish the sentence, an outcry so panicked and scared that it made both Willow and her jump echoed through the warehouse, coming from the direction where Pat had landed after the demon's last attack, both the witch and the Slayer instantly recognizing the voice as the black haired woman's.

"Buffy!" Pat yelled again, struggling against the demon's weight on top of her while for a few moments, all Buffy and Willow could do was stare; somehow, the summoned demon had managed to pin her beneath him, one of his claws now mere inches above her good eye as she had grabbed him at the wrist and kept pushing his arm back up, sweat rolling down her cheeks as she fought to keep him from ramming the claw down and into her eye.

"Hold on", Buffy finally snapped out of her reverie, already starting to move, "I'm coming…!" She pulled the sword out of Mel's chest as she ran past her, bringing it up; and moments later, both Pat and Willow cried out as the black haired woman finally lost the struggle and the claw shot down, another cry coming from both women, Pat's sounding pained while Willow let out one of shock, her eyes going wide as she watched how Buffy reached the demon and ran it through with the sword without even slowing down, the force of the impact throwing the demon off of Pat, the black haired woman immediately rolling over and clutching at her eye.

"No, no, no", Willow brought out as she finally got moving as well, hurrying to her partner's side; she knew that she'd never forgive herself if this whole mess had led to the taller woman losing her other eye as well, her heart hammering up to her throat as she knelt down next to her and tried to make her pull back her hand so she could take a look.

"Come on, Sweetie, let me look", she tried to coax her into it, momentarily forgetting that minutes ago, she hadn't even been sure if she'd ever be allowed to call the taller woman that again, "let me look…" Finally, she managed to make Pat pull back her hand, and relief so big that it almost was too much flooded through her – the claw had missed the demon's eye, thanks to her throwing her head aside at the last moment, and instead of taking the eye, had merely left a long, deep gash, splitting her eyebrow and running down to her cheek, bleeding heavily.

"Thank God", Willow sighed out despite the unsettling amount of blood that was pouring from the slash, "for a moment I thought…" That was the moment she remembered what had happened and fell silent, looking at the taller woman slightly helplessly; Pat held her gaze for a few moments, then came to her feet, averting her gaze while she dug out a handkerchief, of all things, and pressed it to the cut, in a rather useless attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Pat…" Willow started, hating how helpless all this made her feel, now that the danger was over; she took a step closer to the taller woman, but before she could say anything else, or reach out and touch her, the demon shook her head, giving her a short look afterwards.

"Not now", she then muttered, still holding the already soaked handkerchief to her face, "later. Alright?"

"…alright", the redhead agreed after a moment, suddenly feeling close to tears; biting them back bravely, she told herself that she wouldn't cry, not now and not here, that there'd be enough time for tears later on, should what had happened really end up ruining the relationship.

"Let's go home", Buffy threw in, shaking her sword to get rid of at least most of the demon goo, "Giles is waiting there to hear how we did and what exactly is going on, he was quite freaked out when we found him by the way, Mel had him tied up in his closet."

"Poor him", Willow gave back, smiling weakly; smiling back much brighter, Buffy nodded, then asked Pat if she was okay to make it back to her house or if she wanted to demon out first to heal, not surprised when Pat shook her head in reply and kind of gruffly told her that she just wanted to leave. Still, she took the time to find her sword and pick it up; she put it back into the sheathe, then walked towards the door leading outside without another word, Buffy and Willow following her after a moment, the Slayer putting a comforting hand on her best friend's shoulder and giving her a reassuring look, silently telling her that surely, everything would turn out okay.


	19. Chapter 19

Almost an hour later, Willow sat upstairs in the bedroom she had used with Pat whenever they had spent the night at Buffy's place; she had made herself as comfortable as possible on the bed, leaning her back against the headboard as she stared out the window, waiting for her partner to join her and tell her if she actually still would be her partner in the future or if it was over, that the breach of trust had been too bad even though it hadn't really been her fault.

When they had arrived at the Summers house, she had been planning to talk to Pat immediately, to clear things up; Buffy had quietly advised her to let Giles and her talk to the demon first, and she had taken that advice after a moment, moving upstairs so she wouldn't be tempted to eavesdrop and having spent the majority of the time sitting on the bed, trying to keep her thoughts from running wild. Drifting up from downstairs, she could hear Giles, Buffy and Pat talking, couldn't make out any words though; once, the demon raised her voice during that talk, then Giles had talked for quite some time, and afterwards, no one had shouted again, all of them resuming their conversation at a more pleasant volume.

All at once, Willow couldn't take sitting around anymore, feeling too tense and nervous; taking in a deep breath, she got up from the bed and moved to the window, looking outside while she wrapped her arms around herself, once more unable to stop herself from thinking about what she would do if Pat really would break up with her. The mere thought made her shudder, and she hugged herself even tighter, rubbing her arms and closing her eyes briefly, taking in a few deep breaths to keep herself from bursting into tears once more; then, she noticed that the talking downstairs had stopped, and a few moments later, she could hear footsteps move towards the room, her heartbeat speeding up again as she realized that the moment of truth was approaching right along with those steps.

Taking in another deep breath, she turned away from the window and to the door, just in time for her gaze to meet Pat's as the taller woman entered the room; and for the first time in years, Willow found herself unable to read anything from the demon's eye or facial expression, her heartbeat speeding up even further when she realized what this might mean. Still she couldn't bring herself to say anything, even though she wanted to plead her to forgive her, to stay with her; her throat felt as if someone had strangled her though, and her mouth was as dry as a desert all at once, making her wonder what would happen if she actually would try to speak.

For a few moments, they both just stood there, looking at each other, giving the redhead a chance to notice that the cut was still there, cleaned now, the blood washed off, but that so far, she hadn't demoned out to heal; and then, without a word, Pat started moving again, closing the distance between Willow and herself with a few big steps, pulling the redhead into a hug and holding her close.

This simple gesture of forgiveness, forgiveness she hadn't even dared to hope for, finally made Willow lose the battle she had been fighting so bravely until now; a racked sob escaped her as she returned the embrace and buried her face in the taller woman's chest, her flow of tears only increasing when she realized that she still would be able to call said woman her girlfriend, despite everything that had happened.

"I'm so sorry", she finally managed to whisper, her voice nearly cracking, "I never wanted to… I don't even know how to start explaining this…"

"Giles had a pretty good explanation, actually", Pat gave back, smiling slightly, "but right now, I'm too tired to retell it all…"

"I was so afraid I'd lose you", Willow let her know after calming down even further, the fact that the taller woman was soothingly rubbing her back helping with that, "that you'd break up with me over this…"

"To be honest, I actually was pretty close to doing just that at first", the demon sighed, pulling back from the embrace just enough so she could lead Willow over to the bed and sit down there with her, "but now that I've had some time to think about it, and after how Giles explained it… It wasn't really your fault. Or, better said, not your fault at all."

"I still would have understood if you'd wanted to break up", Willow admitted in reply, giving the taller woman a short, but nervous glance, "but I'm really, really happy you don't… I love you…"

"I love you, too", Pat reassured her at once, giving her another smile, "and I'm glad we can put this behind us… But for now, honestly, all I want to do is get some sleep, that fight was quite tiring, not to mention that stupid demon nearly clawing out the one eye I still have left."

"Oh Goodness yes, that was so scary", the redhead agreed at once, "for a moment I thought your eye is gone, I would have hated myself forever if that had happened…"

"That makes me even gladder that it didn't happen", Pat smirked, glad when she managed to make Willow giggle, just as she had intended to; her smile widened slightly, then she reached up with one hand to tenderly wipe off her partner's tears, her voice low when she spoke on. "Now, after all this excitement, I think we could both need some rest… What do you say?"

Immediately, Willow nodded, the excitement of the day finally taking its toll on her; she let out a hearty yawn, then smiled shyly at her girlfriend, all at once feeling how she had felt back then, years ago, seconds before their first kiss, her heart beating up to her throat again as she once more realized that they'd still be a couple in the future.

"Can I get a goodnight kiss before we go to sleep?" she wanted to know, having to stop herself from fidgeting on her seat; in response, the black haired woman let out a little chuckle, then nodded and leaned in for a kiss, a small sigh escaping the witch when their lips met.

"Thanks", the redhead muttered after the kiss, only to feel incredibly stupid all at once, asking herself why she had said something so silly; to her relief, Pat just smirked though and didn't make any comment, merely reacting by moving on the bed and lying down, Willow joining her a moment later.

"I'm so tired all of a sudden", she mumbled, snuggling up closer to the taller woman and smiling slightly when she felt Pat wrap both arms around her; the demon let out an agreeing noise, then they both fell silent, drifting off into sleep together just a few moments later.

* * *

"Okay, I'm gonna check on them now", Buffy decided downstairs half an hour later, "just to make sure they're not having the fight of the century up there."

"I think they would be louder then", Giles commented, shrugging at the look Buffy shot him in response, "and I advise that you don't, if they are talking things out, any disturbance might make things unexpectedly more difficult."

"I'll just take a peek", Buffy promised him in reply, already getting up from her seat, "I didn't hear Pat close the door, so I figure they won't even notice me."

"Well, clearly, you won't let me talk you out of this, so go ahead", the Watcher sighed in reply, "but please try to be discreet."

"Of course", Buffy smirked, moving towards the stairway, "discreet is my middle name."

To her amusement, Giles didn't even dignify that blatant lie with an answer, but merely raised an eyebrow; she gave him another bright smile, then snuck upstairs, frowning when she heard no noise at all from the bedroom where Willow had gone to wait one and a half hours earlier. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting to hear, had been prepared for shouting, maybe one of them crying – or even both – or a discussion in levelled, but cold voices, the way Pat had sounded at first, before Giles had explained; with her curiousness at the highest possible level now, she snuck down the hallway and to the open door leading to the bedroom, poking her head in, her eyes growing wide moments later.

"Well, well, well", she then whispered to herself, "I surely didn't expect that." Even though she didn't want to risk waking the couple up by staring at them for too long, she couldn't help herself, but just had to look a bit longer – after all, they just looked too cute, lying there side by side, fast asleep, the witch with her back to the demon and Pat's arm over her waist, the position of the two keeping the Slayer from seeing that the witch's hand was resting on her girlfriend's.

Finally realizing that at least Pat might wake up if she kept staring at her, Buffy retreated as quietly as possible; smiling to herself, she snuck back downstairs, the happy expression on her face automatically making Giles smile as well before the blonde even had said another word.

"They're asleep", the Slayer let him know as soon as she had sat down again and had made herself comfortable, "and judging from how they are snuggling, I guess they made up."

"Good", the Watcher nodded at once, taking off his glasses and beginning to clean them, letting out a small sigh before he spoke on. "It'll be good for her to have something… or someone… to come back to when she returns from England."

"You know, she still won't like the idea of going there", Buffy reminded him of that not unimportant fact, making him nod once more; he took the time to check his glasses, then put them back on before he focused on her again, his voice low and calm when he replied. "I know. But I'm confident that she'll see reason… and you know that Pat agreed, it's the best thing to do."

"Yes, so let's hope this will help convincing Willow, as well", the Slayer sighed out, "I know that it's the best we can do, and I fully agree, but I can't say I don't understand her, either."

"Of course", Giles nodded for a third time, "I understand her, as well, not wanting to leave her partner behind, especially after what happened, but… Everything else would be too dangerous and highly frivolous."

"I know", Buffy sighed, "let's just hope that nothing we'll need magic for will come up while she's gone."

Not wanting to nod for a fourth time, the Watcher let out an agreeing noise in response; Buffy gave him a slight smile, then briefly looked towards the stairway, asking herself when the couple would wake up again and wondering once more how Willow would react to their suggestion, already knowing that she wouldn't like it all.


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: And we got another one done. Since my mind is still coughing up ideas for this lovely couple, the next one will start on Monday. ;)

* * *

"I don't like this at all", Willow sighed out two hours later, giving her best friend a dismayed look while next to her on the couch, Pat squeezed her hand tenderly, "but I suppose you're right, it's best to go there after… everything that happened."

"Now that Mel is gone, they're pretty sure that all the users of black magic are gone with her", Giles reassured her in reply, "but we still shouldn't take any risks, as I said."

"I know", the redhead mumbled, her shoulders slumping in defeat, "it's just… um… could you give Pat and me a private moment…?"

"Sure", Buffy replied at once, giving Giles a pointed look while she got up from her seat, and a moment later, he did the same, leaving the room with the blonde, both of them moving upstairs so there wasn't a chance for them to eavesdrop. Still, Willow waited until their footsteps had moved to the top of the stairs before she said anything; and even then, she took in a deep breath, shifting on the couch afterwards so she was facing her girlfriend, raising her hand when Pat looked as if she wanted to say something.

"Just, um, let me talk first, please", she then almost pleaded, making the demon nod after a moment; still, she had to breathe deeply once more before she could talk, fighting hard to hold the taller woman's gaze as she finally continued speaking, still ashamed about what she had done even though she knew by now that it wasn't her fault.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am for what happened", she began, fidgeting on the couch a bit, even though it calmed her down slightly when Pat squeezed her hand in reply, giving her some silent reassurance, "even though Giles explained how it happened, with the magic she made me absorb through you and everything… I don't remember how I started anything with… her, but I remember the look on your face when you walked in on it, and I'm so sorry for doing this to you… I know that apologizing can't take all the pain away, maybe it won't even take away any of it, but…"

"It hurt, yes", Pat admitted in reply when Willow had fallen silent, "but, as Giles and you both said, it wasn't really your fault… and you really need to stop apologizing. I forgave you the moment you looked at me when I joined you upstairs and I saw the fear and hurt in your eyes."

This made the witch smile weakly, and she returned the gesture her partner had made moments ago, squeezing her hand as well; then, she took in yet another deep breath, her voice trembling slightly when she went on at last, saying what had been on her mind ever since Giles had told her that she had to go to England again after all, that it just wouldn't be safe to let another witch come here, not as long as the coven couldn't be completely sure that all black magic users were gone.

"What I'm aiming for with my pointless rambling is… I know I hurt you, even though it wasn't my fault, and… I'd understand it if you'd find it hard to trust me any longer after this. So… if I go to England again… I don't know how long I might have to stay there, and if you should change your mind during that unknown timespan, I'd fully—"

"I'll be right here when you get back", Pat interrupted her, not unkindly, "in fact, I'll be at the airport, pushing everyone aside so I can stand right at the terminal doors and hug the living daylights out of you the moment you step through. And don't even think of bringing up some crazy idea of balancing the scales or something while you're gone up now, because there's no way in Hell I'd do that."

For a few moment, all Willow could do was stare at her, a bit surprised at this flood of words; then, a wide smile formed on her face, and without another word, she almost threw herself into the arms of the taller woman, closing her eyes in bliss when she felt them wrap around her and hold her tight.

"I love you", the demon whispered into her ear, the combination of the kindness in her voice, the words themselves and the warm breath she could feel on her cheek making her shiver slightly, "and I'll wait for you while you're over there. As long as I have to."

"I love you, too", the redhead gave back, momentarily squeezing her eyes shut as she felt like bursting into tears again, telling herself that there was no reason to cry, that everything was fine and just as it should be, "and now that I know this, I can go to England peacefully…"

"…and focus on your recovery there", Pat finished for her, smiling slightly, "I suppose it would have made that harder if you'd been worrying about me the whole time there."

"Yeah, pretty much", Willow sighed out, "the kind of work I'll have to do with the demands a lot of concentration…"

"You won't need to worry", the demon promised her once more in reply, pulling back from the hug slightly so she could look her in the eyes and let her see that she meant every word she was saying. "I won't go anywhere while you're there. I promise."

She smiled calmingly at the redhead, finally managing to take her worries away fully; after a moment, the witch smiled as well, then leaned in for a kiss, barely able to believe how lucky she was when she felt the taller woman's lips met hers, the feeling filling her heart with joy and love, convincing her that even if she'd have to stay in England for months, everything would be just fine in the end, no matter what else life and maybe even destiny might throw at them.

* * *

Two days later, the whole group was at the L.A. airport, to see Willow off; now that the time to leave had come, the redhead felt bad about it again, but told herself over and over that the stay would be temporary and that Pat would be right where she was in this very moment when she'd come back, waiting for her with open arms.

"Take care over there", the demon now mumbled to her, holding her close to herself while the rest of the group stood at a respectful distance, giving the couple some privacy for their farewell, "I want you back in one piece."

"I want to come back in one piece, as well", Willow reassured her, smiling weakly, "and the same goes for you… Be careful when going on patrol with Buffy, don't let anything kill you."

"Psh", Pat let out in reply, "as if any of the standard baddies in Sunnydale could do that. You know I'm made of tougher stuff than that." To her relief, the boast had the effect she had intended, making the redhead giggle slightly; she nodded her agreement, for once not making a remark about her overgrown ego, then pulled her down for quite the long and passionate kiss, slightly out of breath when they finally pulled apart again, a grimace appearing on Willow's face when the loudspeaker mounted to the ceiling asked all passengers for her flight to board the plane now.

"Guess I gotta go", she then sighed out, making Pat nod; still, the demon didn't let her go at once, but bent down for another, shorter and more innocent kiss, only moving back from the embrace afterwards and giving the witch a chance to say goodbye to her friends, something Willow did by hugging them one by one and telling them to be careful.

"I'll be in touch", she promised them after the last hug had been given to Giles, "I promise, and no, Giles, I won't skip lessons or anything to call you guys, I promise that I'll be a good student."

"I never doubted that", the Watcher replied primly, smiling slightly a moment later though; Willow smiled back at him, then locked gazes with her partner once more, feeling the need to kiss her again, to tell her that she loved her; and moments later, the demon smiled a tiny, but loving smile, and she realized that it wasn't necessary to tell her that again, that she knew and that she loved her just as much.

"I'll see you all soon then", she thus said instead of another declaration of love; they whole group nodded in unison, the sight making Willow smile once more – before she dug her ticket out of her handbag and turned away from her friends and her lover, her heart heavy as she walked towards the gate, forcing herself to not look back, knowing it would only make things harder. With every step she took, this became more and more difficult, but somehow, she managed; and by the time she boarded the plane, her heart didn't feel so heavy anymore as she knew that her partner would wait for her, would be there when she'd come back, the thought making her smile while she made herself comfortable in the airplane seat, looking out of the window and thinking of her partner and her friends, smiling as she once more realized that despite everything which had happened, they still stood by her side and loved her, just as much as she loved all of them.

End.


End file.
